Enid Picart, MD, grew up interpreting for her parents during their emergency room visits. With no medical insurance and no access to primary care, the Emergency Department was their only opportunity for medical care.
“I knew that I wanted to — needed to — be a physician from the age of seven when I interpreted for my parents during their emergency room visits,” said Dr. Picart. “I was tired of how my parents and patients like my parents were being treated, and I knew that I needed to be a physician and advocate for them and to provide care in a culturally sensitive manner.”
An SJV PRIME alum, Dr. Picart is among the more than 100 residents and fellows graduating from UCSF Fresno this year. She is completing a four-year residency training program at UCSF Fresno in Emergency Medicine and will stay to provide care for patients in the Emergency Department at Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center. She also will continue to work with UCSF Fresno’s mobile medical clinic, Mobile HeaL, as a volunteer physician.
“I’ve been a part of the UCSF Fresno team since I was a third-year medical student completing my training as part of the SJV PRIME and I’ve enjoyed it immensely,” said Dr. Picart. “I knew I wanted to train here, and I greatly appreciate and enjoyed my training at Community Regional Medical Center through the UCSF Fresno Emergency Medicine Residency Program.”
Dr. Picart chose Emergency Medicine because it was the first specialty she was introduced to and it’s where she knew she could make an impact. For many disadvantaged and medically underserved populations, the emergency room is a first stop for health care. In most cases, Dr. Picart says she can connect patients with appropriate follow-up care in addition to addressing emergent concerns. She learned during medical school that she didn’t like being on call and carrying a pager.
As a first-generation college student and the first in her family to become a physician, navigating educational systems and application processes was challenging. Finances also were a major issue growing up and during her academic and professional journey. To support herself and her family, it was necessary for her to work during medical school.
Dr. Picart completed her undergraduate degree at UC Merced and earned a medical degree from UC Davis School of Medicine as part of the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME). Though her family moved around a lot when she was a child, she calls Modesto, California, home.
She is excited and proud to have completed her medical education, but she will never stop learning, she said.
“I can finally call myself a physician and I did it with the help of my family. I would not be where I am now without my husband Francisco, my son Panchito, and my mother Gloria and my father Hector,” said Dr. Picart.
When not working, she enjoys spending time with her family. Together, with her husband and son, they like to travel everywhere from the Fresno Chaffee Zoo to Europe. She enjoys cooking with the NYT Cooking app, listening to audiobooks, and spending time outdoors with Abby, their dog. After graduation, she plans on taking a much deserved and needed vacation before starting her new job.
“Having the opportunity to train in this wonderful program and provide care to the most medically underserved and disenfranchised communities in Central California has been a humbling experience that has molded me into the physician I am today,” said Dr. Picart.
