Lilia Cervantes
Denver Health Medical Center
Denver, CO USA
"Know that once you make a decision, it’s okay to change."
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Lilia's work combines: Medicine, Science, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
It can be overwhelming to commit to a specific educational and career path. I felt the pressure of choosing to pursue medicine because it's essentially a 10-year track, so I felt like if I was committing to it, it needed to be right. However, I found more peace once I realized that even if I followed that path, I can always change and do something totally different if I really wanted to.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
University of Colorado Boulder
Doctorate
Medical Education
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I grew up in Denver, Colorado, in the Valverde and Westwood villages.
2.
I would see the Denver Health Medical Center hospital while walking to school as a child and felt drawn to become a physician myself.
3.
I went to the University of Colorado to pursue medicine.
4.
While in college, I looked for opportunities to get hands-on experience in the healthcare field—I found clinical shadowing opportunities and became a certified nurse assistant.
5.
I completed my bachelor’s degree, medical degree, and internal medicine residency in Colorado.
6.
I spent 14 years building my career as a hospitalist at Denver Health Medical Center.
7.
In addition, I’m a health disparities researcher, I do advocacy and healthcare policy work, and I work to increase diversity in the healthcare workforce.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
If I follow this path to medicine, I'm going to spend 10 years focusing on getting there so it has to be right.
How I responded:
It can be overwhelming to commit to a specific educational and career path. I felt the pressure of choosing to pursue medicine because it's essentially a 10-year track, so I felt like if I was committing to it, it needed to be right. However, I found more peace once I realized that even if I followed that path, I can always change and do something totally different if I really wanted to.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
As Latinas, we face fatalism. When there aren't many of us, we think, "I'm never going to get there, so I'm not going to try." We need to change that narrative. Realize that there will be challenges, but we will persist and find the right path.
I struggled with imposter syndrome when I started my career. I considered others to be smarter and more qualified than me. I eventually told myself that I need to push through it. Push yourself forward and remind yourself that you can do this.