With a trajectory of more than two decades in scientific dissemination, the magazine Medicine and Public Health presents an intimate conversation with Dr. Héctor López González, a surgeon whose professional excellence is matched by its human quality.

When he is going to his beginnings, the doctor recognizes that, although the initial spark is not entirely clear, his desire to be a doctor was a constant from childhood. “If I am Franco, I always remember that since I was very small, I said that I wanted to be a doctor. No, in all honesty, I am not sure what the spark was. I just said it.”

In addition, it highlights the important influence of his mother, who was always involved in the field of health, and whose passion and energy were an inspiration factor for him. “Maybe, my mother was always in the field of health and I saw how she talked about her patients, who in this case were children, and how she enjoyed going to her work.”

The Home: The Pilar of Perseverance and Support

As he says, his family environment was the foundation that would mold its resilient character and determination. Raised in a very united family and with the privilege of having his four grandparents to his youth, his parents instilled in him, through actions, the value of perseverance.

“My parents pointed to me in all kinds of activities, basketball, taekwondo, music, boy scouts, everything, they pointed to me in everything. The curious and it is the part that they never failed, is that they did not let me take away from the things that I was good, for more dog That they sowed in me was the seed of one does not take away from what one is good, and one ends things, “he said.

This teaching became initially during his years of Baccalaureate, a period that describes as the most difficult of his life, marked by economic problems and family diseases.

It was then that that tenacity seed germinated. “And it was for all these seeds that my parents sowed since I was little, that what you start, you finish it, and it was the greatest motivation to enter the School of Medicine, and I understand that the key to my success as a doctor, and that it led me to be as I am now, is those ups and downs that we had in the family, and those desires of my parents that I would not take away and that I ended up.

“This is what summarizes everything that is lived in my home, a lot of love, a lot of perseverance and a lot of education,” he added.

THE SURGICAL ROAD: A self -discovery trip and mentors

As for his extensive training, the doctor shared a journey that began in Puerto Rico and extended through the Caribbean and the United States, culminating in a subspecialty in Surgery Minimally invasive and bariatric. However, the road was not linear; In fact, he initially visualized a different future.

“I initially did not want to do surgeryI always thought, I have always liked the gastrointestinal tract, and I always wanted to be gastroenterologist. “However, it was during the practical rotations of the School of Medicine where he experienced a special taste for his true vocation.

“When I started doing the rotations of the School of Medicine … I realized that I could not manage the passage of the specialty of internal medicine … it was not until I rotated in surgery That I realized that I liked to get up early, I liked the pace, I liked being in operations rooms. “This discovery was decisive, and had the essential guide of Dr. Francisco Jacome, his mentor, whom he considers a brother and who directed him towards the surgery Bariatric

Resilience in the most difficult moments

When addressing the inevitable challenges of such a demanding profession, Dr. López recalled the moments of doubt and emotional wear, particularly during his residence. The connection with the patients and the pain in the face of a negative outcome were times when their resilience was tested.

“Yes, there were occasions that one creates a certain bonding with the patient, and the patient does not do well, and that one suffers, I suffer every loss of my patients, and many times one questions what one is really doing here.”

At those junctures, his support network made up of his family and his medical girlfriend, are his vital livelihood. “Many times I called my mother crying on some occasions when something was not going well, and said, because this is happening, and her guide was, this is part of your training, keep going.”

“If it weren’t for those pillars in my life, I genuinely, or because of my family’s teachings, I would probably not have done so well,” he said.

In addition, he confessed that part of his well -being is knowing how to respect the moments of work and the moments of disconnection for his care. In this case, he mentioned some of his hobbies:

“I have several hobbies, some have gone, some have returned. My favorite hobby was climbing mountains. But, obviously, you have to protect my hands, so I had to leave it apart.

Currently what I enjoy is exercising, sharing with a family, I love going to eat with my family, with my girlfriend, it is the most that clears my head. And they are the best moments to release the phone and simply remain immersed in conversations that have nothing to do with medicine. ”

A message for future generations of doctors

To end the talk, the doctor gave a sincere advice to medical students who aspire to follow a similar trajectory: “You always have to be evaluating and weighing the reality of one as a student, because unfortunately many things are based on exams, on notes, so it is how the system works. Then one always has to balance what one truly wants to do with what one really can do.”

The important thing, according to your speech is that “if you can visualize it, what you have to do is draw the map and continue for and forward, you will have many ISSUES, you can not remove the first, you have to try,” he said.

Finally, he emphasized the importance of searching and connecting with mentors to guide the way, as he did, and thanked those who listened to their history, because he was glad that his story was perhaps the inspiration or guide that could serve someone.