Education
Full-Circle Healing
A doctor’s education in trauma care began in college
AL CUIZON
By AMY PATUREL, MS, MPH
When Nicole Fierro, MD, was a little girl, she set her sights on becoming a doctor. Her parents were not in the medical field. Her mother worked for a wireproduction plant in South El Monte and her father was in construction. In fact, no one she knew had been to college. As a Latina who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley with four brothers, Fierro was exposed to the effects of gang violence and trauma from an early age. She also recognized the health disparities within her community. “I knew that minorities were at an increased risk of experiencing gun violence, trauma and assault,” says Fierro, now 30. And she knew she wanted to be part of the solution. The doorway to her future career opened during Fierro’s sophomore year at UCLA when she learned about CedarsSinai’s Trauma Research Program (TRP) through a student listserv. Students in TRP attend weekly lectures, present research on relevant surgical topics and get on-the-ground training in the medical field. Fierro applied, and the TRP team selected her to join their ranks. As a member of TRP, Fierro gained a front-row seat to clinical research at one of the top Level I trauma centers in the (continued on page 35) country.
Dr. Nicole Fierro trained in CedarsSinai’s Trauma Research Program and now mentors the next generation of students.
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