Giving back to the community
San Luis resident goes on to medical school with goal of returning to serve her hometown
SAN LUIS, Ariz — More and more of this city’s young people are going on to universities to earn degrees, but not all of them will return home to invest their newly gained knowledge and skills to help the community.
Karen Beltran vows to be one who does.
Beltran, 21, graduated with honors in May from the University of Arizona, earning a bachelor’s degree in biology. Later this summer she will begin her studies at the same university’s medical school.
Beltran not only wants to treat San Luis residents but dedicate herself to research to resolve some of the challenging health issues in the community.
“I would like to (pursue) a speciality in something that is needed in the community of San Luis, and in the Hispanic community in general,” she said.
“It’s important to have as a doctor someone who identifies with the community, who is from here, who knows the culture and how the family dynamic works,” she said. “It’s easier to have a good relationship and good communication with your patient if that person feels comfortable and understood.”
Beltran, who graduated second in her class from San Luis High School in 2013, is one of a little more than 100 applicants accepted to the UofA’s medical school, from among a total of nearly 7,000.
Her desire to become doctor — and her inclination toward medical research — grew in her last two years at the university, when she had the opportunity to participate, as part of an academic program, with Dr. Karen Herbst, a Tucson endocrinologist, in research of lipedema and Dercum’s disease. The two little known diseases that afflict primarily women, causing fat to concentrate in areas of the body where it is causes pain or poses greater risk to health.
The research represented a watershed moment for Beltran.
“I have so much to thank Dr. Herbst for, for giving me her time. She is a friend for me, she is my mentor. She taught me not only how to research and write a science article, but how to be a better doctor for patients. She inspired me to do the same thing in the future to serve my community.”
But her experience working with Herbst didn’t end with the research. Herbst invited Beltran to present the findings of the research at two medical conferences in 2016, one in St. Louis and another in Dallas.
And she joined with Herbst in penning an article on differentiating lipedema and Dercum’s disease for the International Journal of Obesity.
Her academic performance enabled Beltran not only to earn her bachelor’s degree but graduate from UofA’s Honors College. She graduated magna cum laude, a distinction for students who earn a grade point average of better than 3.7.
Beltran insists that what she’s been able to accomplish is far from unique among San Luis students, more of whom, she said, are distinguishing themselves academically each year.
Still, said Beltran, the challenges she faced when she entered the UofA should illustrate the need for high school students to be better prepared to make the same transition to a university.
“My first year was a little difficult,” she said. “A university is another level — you need a higher level of knowledge to enter and get good grates. A little more is needed in high school to prepare young people for the next step. I had to work harder than other people in my class to be at that level.”
But, Beltran added, students also must take the initiative to prepare themselves for higher education, for example, by taking advance classes in high school or seeking out resources to help them make the transition.
“It’s your career, it’s your life and your future,” she said. “You have to take the initiative to seek out those resources if you have any interest in going to a university and getting ahead.”
In Beltran’s case, she not only took advanced classes at San Luis High School but also took part in the Center for Talented Youth, a summer program offered by Johns Hopkins University that allows academically gifted junior high and high school students to take college-level summer classes.
Apart from planning to return to her hometown as a doctor, Beltran would like to serve as an example for other San Luis youth to achieve their academic goals and serve their community.
“It’s very beautiful to achieve goals, but it’s important to come back to our community and serve in the profession one has achieved, to be able to collaborate however one can to help the community to progress.”