My path as a foreign MD to Dr in epidemiology

            My name is Joel Collazo. I am a medical doctor from Havana, Cuba. I left my natal country about 4 years after I graduated and when I was about to finish my specialization in Histology. I lived in Peru, where I practiced medicine and did ultrasound. In 2007, I moved to the United States with the idea of either obtaining the license to practice medicine or studying nursing. However, I always loved teaching and I did have the opportunity to begin teaching in 2009 at Miami Dade College (MDC) as an adjunct faculty for anatomy & physiology, and biology. At some point I started thinking about obtaining an “American diploma” that qualified me to get a job in an “easier” way and it was while I was working at a private college while still at MDC that I was “required” to have a master’s degree, which I completed at Barry University. I did it and right after finishing, a friend and colleague told me and some other friends/colleagues about a Ph.D. program in Public Health with specialization in epidemiology, fully online, and without too many pre-entry requirements like exams, etc.

        I decided that that could be an excellent opportunity for me to earn a terminal degree that would help me further my job opportunities and at the same time, give back to the country that I was so grateful for. The master took me less than two years, but the Ph.D. took me 8 ½ years. Here comes my advice, never give up although the horizon looks so far that is invisible. My doctoral dissertation was my first research ever. It took me about 3 years to fine tune my research topic because I did not know how to organize, prepare, and conduct a secondary data analysis. This frustrated me because I had an approved prospectus on Epigenetics and Epidemiology of Breast Cancer however, I did not have data. I thought about giving up sometimes but my desire to demonstrate to myself that it is never late in life was bigger than anything else. Also, I had similar feelings regarding my family, especially my daughter, and then my students. I always tell everyone that it does not matter what or how you will be successful, if you do the right thing. Bottom line, you are in a new country, and you want to succeed. That is why you came here, and as a professional in your country, it may happen that you need to adjust, or even change that profession. Maybe you were not a professional but now you have decided what you want to be. Whatever your situation is, do not give up. It is not easy to be reborn, but when you are, the opportunities can be endless.

                                Joel Collazo, MD., Ph.D.