 Alumni
Interviews:
Jose Angel, M.D.
Finding support at the University of Iowa
“The Dean and faculty were the ones who forced me to graduate and focus on my career. They pushed me to graduate.”
When hard times in your life occur it is not uncommon to be in need of support from those around you. For Jose Angel that support came from The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine’s faculty. While working toward his medical degree Angel was going through a difficult period in his life. As the oldest of eight children whose parents had recently passed away, Angel found himself fighting the pressure of serving as a parental unit for his seven younger brothers and sisters while juggling the stress of being a medical student. The extra motivation was what Angel needed in order to graduate on time and pursue his career.
“The Dean and faculty were the ones who forced me to graduate and focus on my career. They pushed me to graduate,” Angel shared.
The remarkable faculty is not the only aspect of the College that Angel boasts about. He believes they must be praised for their excellence in equality among the medical students minority community. Iowa does a wonderful job of seeing all students as equals.
Being from Cuban descent, Angel is aware of the difficulties that may occur. Throughout our country there is a lack of networking outlets and mentors for minority students to connect with due to a limited peer support group, explains Angel. All schools need to be aware of the diversity of students and understand different subcultures. He would like to see a national program develop where all schools come together to open up doors for minority students to network with other students and faculty outside their own university.
He hopes incoming medical students at Iowa are able to grow as students, physician, and as people as much as he was once able to.
“Take time to understand you are going through many changes, physically and mentally, and not to change who you are because of the amount of work you have.”
“Medical school is a process, not an endpoint. The most important thing is to keep aware of who you are and where you hope to be going,” Angel believes.
Today Angel is an internal medicine fellow at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines where he is also chairman of the Board of Directors of Mercy Clinics Inc. He is also past president of the Iowa Medical Society where he was extremely active in the passage of Medicare bills, an issue of great concern to him. Angel remains involved with The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine by serving on this years Alumni Board of Advisors. |
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