24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity: My greater aspiration is to one day be in a position of enough power to improve medical care worldwide. This is my life goal. For the next ten years, however, my opportunity (or life goal scaffold) is to tell stories of remarkable individuals in medicine. Through the scope of a nonprofit organization that I want to call "Heroes of Medicine Foundation", I plan to highlight the lives and thoughts of patients, scientists, doctors, and anyone meaningfully affected by medicine. Although in its infancy, the work has already started: www.heroesofmedicine.org As a former cancer patient, scientist, and aspiring filmmaker, I am governed by this idea that something beautiful can be created out of these hospital rooms. Something about the human condition in the most vulnerable moments, which translates into resilience, excellence, and sacrifice. That’s when powerful stories arise. Most of them, however, go forgotten. I am doing this specially to prevent many patients from dying forgotten. This is a work of heart and one that I want to do until mine stops beating.

This internship is my career goal. By working full time as a filmmaker and palliative care volunteer, I will be living a dream. Currently, as a full time student, I feel tortured that I cannot do what I love the most. I am eagerly waiting for the summer to start so I can devote all of me into seeing more patients, and creating short films that will bring hope to them and inspiration to us. In addition to that, this summer is a critical point in my path to improving healthcare in this country. If given the stipend, I will be able to walk with a camera inside ongoing operations, business meetings, patient rooms, and anywhere else within that hospital - capturing important moments and decisions from all frontiers of medicine. This has never been done by any foundation or institution before as it is a prohibited practice. Shands Hospital has trusted me to do it and I believe that such an opportunity will help not only my career but also the entire medical community. 

Innovation:  It all started in 2015, when I was living in the hospital, receiving treatment for an aggressive blood cancer. These volunteers from this program called Streetlight would knock on my door and offer me their friendship. Some would sit and talk about life, some would bring guitars and sing, others would simply help me with my homework. All of them stayed forever in my heart. They provided me with love and affection at a time when all I was receiving was needles and toxic meds. Fast forward to 2018, I was working as a scientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School (HMS) hospital. HMS is the Mecca of medicine in the world. Being there has given me a good perspective to understand what is missing in medicine and where my efforts should be dedicated to. After endless hours of reflections, I realized that I had an unprecedented opportunity: I can change the healthcare system in the US if I act on various frontiers. With that in mind, I started filming interviews with scientists, patients, and medical doctors, each of whom in their niche, combining all into a greater perspective of the field. I still needed more freedom within a hospital, which I did not have there as an employee. This freedom would only be possible as an outsider, which is why realized that in this innovative pursuit, I would need a 501c3. 

Venture Concept: I was awarded the JKCF transfer scholarship, which allowed me to leave the laboratory and return to the classroom. I knew that I wanted to continue with this plan of acting in all frontiers through filmed interviews. After thoughtful considerations, it was evident that there would be no better place to do it than at Streetlight at the University of Florida. The cheap cost of attendance at UF would also allow me to invest in filming equipment, which I surely did. Last Fall, I returned to the hospital that cured my cancer and joined Streetlight, this time as a volunteer rather than patient. I have now a - closely watched - freedom within Shands Hospital, which will allow me to expand my efforts and create unique work during the internship. That is why I chose this organization and that is how I plan to, one day, be in a position of enough competence and knowledge to improve the healthcare system in this country and the world

5 years from now: I dream of waking and to this work with no limitations or distractions.