Dr. Robert Rodriguez, of Brownsville, who was examined in Harlingen on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, will receive the American College of Emergency Physicians’ 2024 Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research. (Miguel Roberts | Brownsville Herald)
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Some of you may have grown up watching “Green Eggs and Ham,” but Robert Rodriguez’s childhood nights were filled with his mother reading him the periodic table, something he never dreamed of at the time. The journey that will take him to a place that could have been has begun.
Almost 50 years later, that boy is now Dr. Rodriguez, focusing his career on researching various aspects of emergency medicine and public health, including trauma, opioid overdose, and overdose treatment.
That job took him from Brownsville to Notre Dame, then from Harvard to California, before taking an advisory role in the Biden administration.
For the past 10 to 15 years, Rodriguez said he has focused on public health issues, particularly those related to communities that lack access to standard medical services.
“Immigrants, homeless people, people who basically don’t have a doctor or a clinic where they can get medical care, they rely on emergency departments for health care,” Rodriguez said. “(It’s) a safety net for underserved populations.”
Rodriguez said one of the latest efforts is to bring vaccines to underserved communities.
What’s next for Rodriguez? The talented doctor will now work on building a partnership between the United States and Mexico to enable access to emergency medical care.
Throughout the project, Rodriguez will tour emergency and intensive care facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border to identify opportunities for cooperation between the two countries to address medical needs.
Rodriguez said seeing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on border communities inspired him to research the potential of collaborative emergency care. In the Rio Grande Valley alone, for example, the virus has claimed more than 4,000 lives.
This dedication to serving the medical needs of the community led to Mr. Rodriguez being honored with the award on October 1, a fitting day to recognize Hispanic physicians.
Dr. Robert Rodriguez, of Brownsville, who was examined in Harlingen on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, will receive the American College of Emergency Physicians’ 2024 Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research. (Miguel Roberts | Brownsville Herald)
Rodriguez received the 2024 American College of Emergency Physicians Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research. This is a coveted honor bestowed annually by the university on the basis of a body of research, and is no different than a lifetime achievement recognition for significant contributions to emergency medicine.
Some of his research fields that helped him win this award were quite close to home.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodriguez conducted research on the health care disparities that emerged during the pandemic, including research on the impact on front-line health care workers such as paramedics and critical care workers.
He returned to Brownsville to help in the intensive care unit at Valley Baptist Hospital in Brownsville, where he was born and raised. Filemon Vera, a former U.S. congressman, called and asked for help.
“It was a transformative experience in my career,” Rodriguez said. “Just seeing everyone working so hard there, just seeing the community spirit supporting the hospital.”
That experience led him to speak in Congress and other organizations, ultimately serving on President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, which serves people with few resources and limited access to health care. advocated for the community;
“It’s been decades since I left Brownsville, but Brownsville and the Valley are still my true home,” Rodriguez said.
medical journey
A career in medicine and research wasn’t always planned for Rodriguez.
“I really didn’t have any medical role models,” Rodriguez said, adding that his father was a football coach and track and field director and his mother was a science teacher. “I think it just came from a love of science.”
He remembered his mother doing experiments at home and buying him a microscope.
After graduating from St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville, Rodriguez earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.
“I thought about being an engineer for a while,” Rodriguez jokes, adding that after taking one engineering class as an undergraduate, he quickly realized that wasn’t what he wanted to do. added.
Dr. Robert Rodriguez, of Brownsville, who was examined in Harlingen on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, will receive the American College of Emergency Physicians’ 2024 Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research. (Miguel Roberts | Brownsville Herald)
He then enrolled in a pre-med course with his roommate and began volunteering in the emergency department.
“That was it for me,” Rodriguez said. “I loved all the different medical fields, but I found my home in the emergency department.”
After finding his calling, Rodriguez attended Harvard Medical School and continued his studies in emergency medicine.
That journey led him to life as a professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
In addition to teaching at the university, he also practices emergency medicine and critical care at San Francisco County Hospital.
Throughout his career, Rodriguez conducted a variety of research projects, some of which were published in both the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of American Medical Association, one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals.
For Rodriguez, this award is not the only fulfilling aspect of his career, but also an opportunity to teach future generations of healthcare professionals.
“They’re pushing it forward,” Rodriguez said, adding that he hopes it will be a source of confidence for those interested in the medical field to not be intimidated by the academic experience and not be afraid to ask questions. He added that he would like to encourage them not to do so.
But that will require experimentation in a variety of fields, he added, noting that students entering university often benefit from having options to find their calling.
“You should explore multiple different fields of study and talk to as many people as possible in the different fields you’re considering,” Rodriguez said, adding that you should network and follow the careers they’re pursuing. I emphasized the importance of this.
He emphasized that everyone will experience failure and rejection, but persistence yields the most satisfying rewards, and it doesn’t hurt to have help like a mentor along the way.
