Rising Stars: Meet Carmen Cortez Ortega of Gardena

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmen Cortez Ortega

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My parents immigrated from Mexico in the 1990’s. I am the oldest of four children who grew up living in a one-bedroom. Due to their lack of education they worked very labor-intensive jobs. My dad is a landscaper and mom was a house cleaner. I was pushed to grow up quickly as a child and be strong enough to hold the pressure of a first generation Mexican American. I helped with translating and communicating several things like bills, documents, and medical information. I was eleven-year
old when I had my first experience with healthcare as I translated for my dad during his appointment for diabetes. The provider explained how his poor diet and lack of exercise was going to lead him down a path of amputation. At that moment I was amazed at how knowledgeable the provider was. From then on, I knew I wanted to have a career in the medical field.
While most kids at school went on vacation to the beach on days off, I cleaned houses with my mom, dusting furniture, making beds, and sweeping floors. I enjoyed helping my mom but all I could think about was going back to school, a place where I could feel my true potential. The work ethic I gained as a young child pushed me to not only enjoy school but also to excel in it. I managed to juggle multiple part time jobs (Registered Behavioral tech, research assistant and PT aide) while being a full-time student on the Dean’s list and being involved in clubs and volunteering. Despite my achievements
and love for the sciences, I did not truly find a career that I was passionate about until a neighbor told me about the Physician Assistant (PA) profession. I realized quickly how hard and competitive the process to apply to PA school is. No one in my family attended college let alone had a career in the medical field. The high costs of application help and lack of free advice made me feel powerless. Luckily, I soon found a PA willing to be my mentor through my hospital internship program. Through the process I saw the barriers that many first gen low income students of color like me face but may not have the one opportunity I had. For this reason, I created the Chicana PA on Instagram. My purpose is to help those who are struggling like I did. I help students with personal statements, answering questions, mock interviews, club presentations online and in person, pre PA conferences and so much more all free of charge because we need more providers that look like the community.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it was not a smooth road at all from growing up cleaning houses at the age of 9 years old until 20 to not being able to find shadowing opportunities or PA mentors and trying to save up to apply to PA school. Higher education is so much harder to achieve for students that come from an underserved background and I didn’t know if I would ever achieve my dream to be a healthcare provider.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
When I finally figured out the PA school application and path, I wished others could have this information too so I decided to create an Instagram page with everything I discovered about requirements, how to apply, how to write an essay..etc. The plan was to stop after I started school: however, at that point I had over 1,000 followers who wanted to see my story continue and tips during PA school. Now it has become a community of over 4,000 people who are asking for help, getting advice, or just seeing my life as a first gen, low income PA student. I am most proud of the friendliness of the Instagram community and willingness to help each other, which is hard in any pre-healthcare path.

What sets me apart? My transparency. Social media can be very fake and only highlights but I like to share my highs and lows because it’s never going to be easy.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The covid crisis made it so much harder to find healthcare opportunities like volunteering or shadowing. One important lesson was how powerful the internet is because that is how I found my hospital internship and started attending virtual shadowing events.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @chicana_pa.s