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It was a fastball down the middle of the plate.......
It was a fastball down the middle of the plate that started me on this amazing journey. When I was 15 years old, I was playing little league baseball, I took a big swing and injured my back. This required for me to undergo physical therapy and I immediately felt in love with the idea of applying different exercises and modalities to facilitate healing. I still remember the pain of not being able to play as I was healing from the back injury.
I grew up in the beautiful coastal town of Isabela, PR. From a very young age, I play baseball along my older brother. Baseball was a platform for me to learn so many things, including friendship, discipline, team work, performing under stress among many other things, even my decent hand/eye coordination that I use when performing medical procedures, I attribute to my years of playing baseball, I used to play short stop and second base, so it was important to have good hands.
Growing up I was always interested in science and learning in general. I remember that I had books on biology, chemistry, the human body, I was fascinated by all of these different topics.
So, I was in 10th grade when I decided I wanted to become a physical therapist (PT). After starting college, I didn't look back and was able to graduate as a PT. I had the chance to practice in different areas including geriatrics, sports medicine, orthopedic rehab among other areas.
Decision to become a physician: I remember that I came to Disney world with my family right after graduating from PT school. I was reading a book on sports medicine (who brings a medical text book to a family vacation….I guess a few of us nerds do things like this)…this book at the time used terms and included topics that were beyond my knowledge….and it was at that time that I made the decision to enter medical school.
I worked for 2 years as a physical therapist while I completed some other chemistry and calculus credits that I needed in order to enter medical school. I then was accepted to Ponce Medical School in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
During medical school I had the chance to learn much more on how the body works. Then during my third and fourth year of medical school I had the chance to rotate through different clinics, hospitals and experiences. I was exposed to Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Surgery and many others. However, being a PT, I knew that Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) was my passion and a natural fit for me.
So, I decided to specialize in PM&R. I was accepted at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. Before starting my residency I had to complete a year of internship which I did in Ponce Puerto Rico at St. Lukes hospital.
Then, I moved to Texas where I had the chance to learn PM&R at one of the best residency programs given it’s balanced clinical experiences from inpatient rehab, to outpatient clinics, spine procedures….and the rotations were done at Parkland Hospital, the VA and other clinics and hospitals.
It was during my second year of residency when I got married to my wonderful wife Melissa.
At this point, I knew I was closer than ever to my goal of becoming an expert in my field. During my residency I had amazing mentors- Dr. Karen Kowalske was the chair of the department at the time, Dr. Samuel Bierner- who is one of my role models was the residency program director, Dr. Annaswammy was at the VA and had a big impact of my learning experience as well. And my co-residents were a great bunch of guys, Drs. Gonzalo Gonzalez, Scott Haughaout, Scott Hamilton, Erin Derbigny, Nick Scott, Segey Stepanov, Poonam Ochani, Haiyan Lee, Ben Hooker).… and Terry who kept all of us in line. it was a blessing to have such a nice group. I still stay in touch with some of them.
During my residency I had the chance to do different injections and procedures but since you have to rotate through different clinics you cannot fully immerse yourself and that was an area where I wanted to expand and add more tools to my arsenal.
I had the honor and privilege to be accepted into the only ACGME accredited fellowship in the US that combined Interventional Pain Medicine (management) and Regenerative Medicine. There I had some wonderful mentors, in the pain management side I had Dr. Drake, Dr. Hamza- the residency program director, Dr. Lester and Dr. Bindal.
And I spent 50% of my time during my fellowship learning Regenerative Medicine. I had the mentor that has impacted me the most on how I practice medicine, Dr. Jeff Ericksen. With him I learned how to treat joint, nerves and other pain conditions with Prolotherapy, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and I also learned Ultrasound guided procedures to ensure the precise application of these orthobiologic treatments.
Dr. Ericksen's way of treating patients and the fact that he looked at the patients as a whole and integrated important factors such as sleep, nutrition and exercise as part of the evaluation and treatment of the patients, changed the way I looked, evaluated and treated my patients forever.
It was with him, during my fellowship year that I had the chance to go to Honduras with the HHPF to treat patient and teach other physicians from the US and around the word in Prolotherapy techniques.
Sadly, Dr. Ericksen passed away a couple of years after I completed the subspecialty training. But he left a big mark on me and I can still hear him when I speak to my patients. To this date, I still go to Honduras every year for the mission trip.
Finally, after completing my education and training, which took about 16 years after graduating from high school; I completed my formal education.
I then joined a private practice in Louisiana- TotalCare—- (it was during my first trip to Honduras when I met Dr. Tommy Bond). He is one of the leaders in Regenerative Orthopedics, and is one of the, if not the most well rounded physician I have ever seen. He is a family medicine trained, and did a sports medicine fellowship. At TotalCare they provided all kinds of services: from primary care, anti-aging, to sports medicine and regenerative medicine. I had the chance to work alongside an amazing team- Laura, Marlene, Ashley Ramsey, Ashley Beth, Charra, Jennifer, Kasha, Ryan…it was a great group. I was there for 3 years, and I had the chance to expand my experience and knowledge.
I started a blog and made some videos on Youtube explaining different treatments such as prolotherapy, PRP, etc. I had an active blog, OTwithMD (overtime with the medical doctor) which allowed me to reach a lot of people through videos and articles.
During my time in Louisiana, our first baby- Bela was born.
After 3 years in Louisiana we decided to move to Florida to be closer to our family.
Over the past 4 years I have been doing subacute rehabilitation and pain management at different nursing homes. I also worked with an orthopedic group doing interventional pain management and regenerative orthopedics.
Also, while in Orlando, our second baby was born, a boy named Alesi.
So, Now, we are a family of 4, (or 6 if I count our 2 dogs).
Over the past 4-5 years I have expanded my knowledge by continuing formal (and informal) education in epigenetics and different lifestyle approaches to improve overall health and outcomes for my patients when I perform regenerative orthopedic procedures.
So, Regenomics is the result of all my years of education, training and experiences....and all of this started with a fastball down the middle of the plate. I am ready for this new chapter!
