Throughout her medical education journey, Cecilia Rangel-Garcia, MD, MPH, recalls being one of only a few people of color and often, the only Latina. At the same time, she witnessed Latinas who changed the landscape for her and others, too. These women include her mom, sisters, UCSF Fresno Emergency Medicine resident Jessica Dominguez, MD, and Katherine A. Flores, MD, founder of the UCSF Fresno Doctors Academy, who also happened to be her primary care provider growing up.
Inspired by her family, mentors and her own desire to create change, Dr. Rangel-Garcia is completing a four-year residency training program in Psychiatry and will be among the 100 physicians graduating from UCSF Fresno this year. After graduation, she will stay in the Central Valley to complete a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at UC Davis in Sacramento.
All six graduating psychiatry residents at UCSF Fresno are staying in California where nearly 1 in 7 adults experience mental illness and 1 in 26 has a serious mental illness, according to the California Health Care Foundation.
Both Dr. Rangel-Garcia’s parents are involved in the mental health field and often work together and with others to identify gaps in mental health care in the Valley and help to bridge those gaps. Dr. Rangel-Garcia points to one gap that drew her to her chosen specialty — the need for more Latino psychiatrists. Only 4-5% of psychiatrists in California identify as Latino.
“I’m drawn to people’s stories. I have questions about their support system, their upbringing, their joys, struggles and goals,” said Dr. Rangel-Garcia. “Psychiatry allows me to meet patients at their story and be curious about their life with them.”
Dr. Rangel-Garcia grew up in Clovis, California, graduated from Buchanan High School, attended Loyola Marymount University, and earned a master’s in public health and medical degree from the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
In her spare time, she can be found at various parks with her daughters and husband or at her parents' house with family, feasting, laughing, and learning together.
“I’m most proud that my time in residency has not just been about my professional pursuits, but my personal ones as well,” Dr. Rangel-Garcia said. “I had two incredible daughters in residency and while the concurrent journeys of becoming a mother and psychiatrist were not always easy, they were so incredibly worthwhile and exciting to experience together.”
She is thankful for ever-supportive husband and family for standing with her during her personal and professional journeys. And she is grateful to have served as co-resident with Stephanie De Vera, DO.
“I will remember most the joy and support that my program director, co-residents, faculty and staff expressed when I shared the news of my pregnancies,” said Dr. Rangel-Garcia. “I think this really shows how the psychiatry residency program and UCSF Fresno care about residents beyond our work in the hospitals and clinics.”
Established in 1975, UCSF Fresno is celebrating 50 years of training doctors and improving health in the San Joaquin Valley this year. A regional campus of the UCSF School of Medicine, UCSF Fresno offers training in eight medical residency programs, one dental surgery residency program and 20 Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and non-ACGME sub-specialty fellowships. UCSF Fresno plays a vital role in expanding access to health care in the Valley, training physicians and medical students for the region and state, conducting research that addresses regional health issues, and academically preparing students from the San Joaquin Valley to pursue careers in health and medicine.
