Melisa Noa de la Paz, MD

Why I chose family medicine: Family medicine is so broad! I felt like I could find a practice out there that would be a perfect fit for me and my career interests. I love that this career has lots of aspects that I loved from other specialties, but care is still focused on the individual person. Family medicine is unique in that you also get to take care of the whole person, from birth to end of life, and so I will never get bored. 

Why I chose the IU School of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program at Memorial: I found the people to be the most caring and kind out of any other places I had interviewed. I really felt included and cared for by attendings and residents during the tour. I am glad to say that since starting, everyone I have interacted with from hospital staff to neighbors are the friendliest people. Jasper also has a significant Hispanic population and being a Cuban immigrant, it was important to me to serve this community. With it being an unopposed rural program, I feel like I will receive a great education and have a wide set of skills when I graduate as well.