一位医生，她的手指在她的社区脉搏

直到10岁，Dr. 卡拉Moreira lived in Cape Verde, where her mother worked at a free clinic. 有时她会出诊, traversing the rocky terrain to see patients who had no access to the facility, 偶尔她也会带着女儿一起去.

As Moreira observed the connection her mother made with the people in their community it profoundly imprinted upon her. 今天, she is a vascular and endovascular surgeon whose practice is informed by her commitment to her community.

流利的佛得角克里奥尔语和葡萄牙语, 有西班牙语工作知识, Moreira immigrated to the United States at 10 and grew up in Pawtucket, 那里有佛得角的大型社区. She graduated with honors from Rhode Island College in 2003 with a B.A. 在化学中，有生物化学的浓度.

2008年，她获得了硕士学位.D. 来自布朗大学沃伦·阿尔珀特医学院, 在全美医学院排名前20位, and completed her residency in general surgery at the University of Chicago in 2013. This was followed by a two-year fellowship training in vascular and endovascular surgery at the Boston Medical Center.

莫雷拉擅长治疗各种血管疾病, 包括脑血管疾病, 外周动脉疾病, 腹、胸主动脉瘤, 血液透析的访问, 静脉功能不全和慢性伤口.

In 2015 she joined the Department of Surgery at the Warren Alpert Medical School, 在罗德岛医院有主治特权, 米里亚姆医院, 女性 & 婴儿医院，法蒂玛医院和罗杰·威廉姆斯医院.

In 2018 she was appointed chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at the Providence VA Medical Center.

除了她忙碌的临床实践, Moreira established SURGE Lab in 2019 to research health disparities through a social determinant of health lens.

“Decades of studies and data have shown us that there are health disparities,她说。, “但我们在消除它们方面做得还不够好.

SURGE实验室致力于消除它们.

“我们知道, 例如, that African-Americans enter the medical system with more advanced stages of vascular disease because they are diagnosed later and are less likely to undergo or be offered interventions that could improve their overall outcomes,她说.

“在我们的研究中, among the things we look at are how to work with marginalized groups to improve access to care and how to minimize the trauma that happens when marginalized groups interact with the medical system. Not only access to care but quality of care impacts health outcomes," says Moreira.

After acting as an interpreter in high school for her non-English-speaking grandfather who was struggling to navigate the healthcare system, Moreira has become a big proponent of doctors coming from the same neighborhood as their patients, 长得像病人的医生, doctors who speak the same language or have some shared history with their patients. “健康差异的主要原因之一,她说。, “is that physicians don't understand the lives of their patients."

That’s why she advocates for increasing diversity and inclusiveness in the field of medicine.

作为外科部门的多元化主管, Moreira leads efforts to recruit and retain underrepresented minority students and faculty in academic medicine.

“I’m not only involved in the hiring but in creating a culture that says we value diversity,她说。. “我考察了外科的各个层次, 从居民到教职员工, 试着永远成为那个说, ‘How can we do better in creating an environment that is inclusive, 不同社会经济背景的人, racial and educational backgrounds can add to the diversity and culture of this institution?’”

“你可以招募教师和学生加入你的项目, but if your program is not one that is supportive – if you don't have an environment that says, “我重视你。,你将无法留住那些有才能的人,她说. "So, 除了招聘, 我就是那个说, ‘What can we do better to create an environment that is inclusive?'"

归根结底，莫雷拉是罗德岛大学的一个成功故事. She will tell you that there is nothing special about her other than that she was lucky enough to have had good mentors, 那些看到她潜力的人, 有时, 她在自己身上看不到这一点.

“我在罗德岛大学有一段很棒的经历. I know there are hundreds of young people in public schools in Rhode Island who belong at Brown University or another top Ivy League institution in this country. 只要有机会，他们就会出类拔萃. 他们甚至会超越我现在所做的，”她说. “That motivates me to never let an opportunity pass where I don’t encourage or say, “我就是这么做的，你也可以这么做.’ The problem is that a lot of these kids don't often get the opportunity or people may not see their potential. That's why I like to go into inner-city schools and talk to children and demystify the idea of who can be a doctor. My hope is that the next generation that comes from Pawtucket or Central Falls or Woonsocket can use their experiences to help make our health systems work better."