When your family history includes a father whose childhood was spent picking crops during the course of the year — ranging from lettuce and onions in Texas and Arizona in the spring, to tomatoes, figs, cotton, grapes and citrus fruits throughout California, finally ending with apples and cherries in Washington and Oregon in the fall — some would believe that your future would consist of economic struggle and unfulfilled needs. But the reality is that a strong work ethic and the drive to better oneself everyday can lead to a successful journey and the achievement of seemingly impossible heights.
R. Luis Pompa, M.D., currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in Gastroenterology at The Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC), knows this truth firsthand. His father, born on an Indian reservation in New Mexico, was a migrant farm worker as a kid, never graduated from high school, and did not speak English until his teenage years. But through perseverance and determination Pompa’s father accessed a stable job. “My father’s life story, beginning as a disadvantaged and poor farm worker without opportunity and education and now a retired teacher, making a better life for his sons, is truly the American Dream,” Pompa said.
Pompa grew up in a small town outside Chico, California “with two great parents and an even better older brother.” He attended California State University, Chico, majoring in microbiology with a minor in chemistry. He then worked as a pre-doctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He researched cell-signaling pathways before applying to medical school at Ohio State University.
“My parents are remarkable people and instilled the strong work ethic I live by today, but Ohio State has also been instrumental in my achieving success in medicine,” Pompa affirmed. For him, the experience and training received in medical school matched, if not exceeded, the training received by others at more prestigious institutions. By providing Pompa with a strong theoretical background during his first two years and then encouraging a very hands-on approach with a variety of patients during the clinical experience, Ohio State made Pompa’s transition to internship and residency much smoother. “During my medical residency at the University of Michigan, I found my breadth of clinical experience and my ability to do procedures to exceed my counterparts during my training. The education and experience I received at OSU has been the solid foundation from which I have built a successful practice,” Pompa recalled.
Pompa believes that health care in the Latin@ community does not achieve its full potential as a result of cultural and language barriers, socioeconomics, access to education and employment and insurance issues. “Gastrointestinal disorders relating to colorectal cancer screening, pancreatic cancer and peptic ulcer disease are issues that disproportionately affect the Latino community.” He added, “I feel a special responsibility to the Latin@ community, because of my upbringing and father’s experience, to deliver the best health care I can provide in an area that I feel I can have a significant impact.” Some of the services and procedures that Pompa is able to provide were not available prior to his arrival at the OSUMC.
Pompa believes that time spent in school is an investment, just like money in the bank, that will grow into a better life for you, your family and the patients you take care of. Students sometimes fail to realize that the road to achieving goals, whether in healthcare or in other fields, can be long and sometimes discouraging, requiring personal sacrifice and delayed gratification. As a physician and a professor, Pompa offered some advice: “There are many careers in health care other than physicians and nurses where you can impact the health of your community,” he suggested. “Wherever your interest lies, remember your goal takes commitment and discipline; your background and life experience will always be an asset that will set you apart from others.”
Ohio State opens a huge door of opportunity for those who decide to attend a world-class university. “As in my case, OSU is ready to equip students with the education and skills that will not only lead to a career of their choice, but will allow them to compete with the best. I am thrilled to return to OSU to help provide those same opportunities to others,” Pompa concluded.
For more information about The Ohio State University College of Medicine, visit the College’s website at http://medicine.osu.edu, or if you would like to learn more about Luis Pompa’s career, please contact him at robert.pompa@osumc.edu. |
