Lourdes Rayas Almeraz, MD
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Universidad de Guadalajara, Centro Universitario del Sur. Lourdes “Lulu” was born in Mexico City and raised in Autlan, in the state of Jalisco Mexico. She was born to two physicians who dedicated their medical expertise to the mission of global health. As a young girl, Lulu had the unique experience of living in Kenya, where health care services are often inaccessible. Inspired by the genuine compassion and empathy demonstrated by her parents, she simultaneously followed in their footsteps.
For the last year of her medical studies at the University of Guadalajara, she served as the primary care (and often only) provider for a rural town in Jalisco. |
It was in that community where Lulu developed her love of the built-in continuity of care and patient/physician collaboration of Family Medicine. After graduation, she volunteered at a children’s orphanage until, in 2016, she relocated to her husband’s hometown of Santa Rosa, California.
Almost immediately, she saw the challenges that immigrants face in finding bilingual, bicultural healthcare. While learning the health system herself, she took on the role of a resource and educator to her neighbors and other Spanish-speaking community members. She began volunteering for the Center for Community Engagement at Sonoma State University and for the County of Sonoma, where she collaborated as a Spanish interpreter in COVID vaccine campaigns. She is grateful to join SRFMR so she can continue to serve the people in the community that she’s called home for the past several years.
Lulu’s practical interests include preventive medicine and immigrant health. In her spare time, she is one of the hosts of a weekly radio show where health topics are discussed in Spanish. Outside of medicine, she enjoys going to the movie theater and discovering new fun places with her husband and son.
Almost immediately, she saw the challenges that immigrants face in finding bilingual, bicultural healthcare. While learning the health system herself, she took on the role of a resource and educator to her neighbors and other Spanish-speaking community members. She began volunteering for the Center for Community Engagement at Sonoma State University and for the County of Sonoma, where she collaborated as a Spanish interpreter in COVID vaccine campaigns. She is grateful to join SRFMR so she can continue to serve the people in the community that she’s called home for the past several years.
Lulu’s practical interests include preventive medicine and immigrant health. In her spare time, she is one of the hosts of a weekly radio show where health topics are discussed in Spanish. Outside of medicine, she enjoys going to the movie theater and discovering new fun places with her husband and son.