Annual Pub 2023 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 51
SUMMER 2023 MAGAZINE
FUELS
SUCCESS
His college experience wasn’t an immediate success. Without the
proper background in math and suffering from the lack of sleep
that comes with working a full-time job as he went to school full
At the age of eight, Munoz returned to the U.S. with his parents, who saw
time, he 昀unked college algebra. Getting a job on campus helped
better economic opportunity. Three families, 12 people, all relatives,
with his time management. And tutoring helped him do well when
would live in a small house on the east side of Las Vegas. His dad was a
he took algebra again. “I wasn’t about to give up.”
mechanic; his mother worked at a dry cleaners. By middle school, Munoz
says English as a second language (ESL) classes 昀nally made it possible During his junior year at UNLV, a course in anatomy and physiology
for him to really understand what was going on in class.
would ultimately make him confront his own uncertainties – and
switch career paths.
Middle school was also when Munoz became aware of gang
activity police say is responsible for an increase in violent crime. “In that course, I developed an interest in understanding how the
“My parents’ expectation of me … was to earn a good and honest human body functions in relation to the etiology of illnesses … a
life … Simple enough, right? Sounds easy, but knowing how various close friend suggested I look into medical school because he saw
relatives … and friends … associated themselves with criminal gangs, it how much l loved medicine. ”
wasn’t easy to say no.”
Munoz said what 昀nally made him switch from studying physical
therapy to medicine was a sense of duty to serve patients “with
When he left Woodbury Middle School whom I share a resemblance, culture, and language … I never knew
for Valley High School, college still wasn’t or had met a physician that resembled my background or identity.”
on his radar. “I was a decent student, but
nothing special. It didn’t seem realistic To pay for medical school, Munoz, now an Army Second Lieutenant,
then to go to college.” Much of his energy is in a Military Health Professions Scholarship Program, where the
was devoted to wrestling, football, and military pays a medical student’s tuition, provides a living stipend,
weightlifting. He set school weightlifting and reimburses students for required books, equipment, and
records at 160, 170, and 180 pounds. At supplies. For every year of scholarship assistance, he will be on
160 pounds, he bench-pressed double active duty as a military physician for one year.
his weight.
As Munoz – he regularly volunteers to speak to middle and high
IRWIN MUNOZ
P H O T O : J O S H H A W K I N S / U N LV
to Mexico because they thought their small farming community in their
native Mexico would be a better place to raise a family.
Munoz says what made college seem
possible was an internship program
through Valley High School. One of his
internships was at a physical therapy clinic.
“I saw various patients come in with painful
knees or shoulders … come out better
than they could imagine. The relationship
between the clinician and patient ignited
an interest in me to pursue such a career
in college.”
The internships, Munoz says, got him to
hit the books hard enough to increase his
grade point to a solid “B,” enough to win
him some scholarships to UNLV. Those
scholarships, coupled with a full-time
security job at a casino, sent him on the
way to becoming a physical therapist.
school students about the opportunities available to them – moves
forward toward a career in medicine, he says he will never forget
where he came from.
“I strongly believe that by having physicians who share their own
patients’ background and culture, they can facilitate building trust
in the healthcare system. That feeling was reinforced through my
three years at Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada. People
appreciated that there was someone like me who could help them
understand what the doctors said in their visits. Some immigrants
see healthcare as needed only when emergencies occur and others
昀nd it di٠恩cult to 昀nd a primary care physician they can trust. I feel
I can be that physician that can relate to immigrant families and
those with limited resources.”
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