Dr. Miguel Pirela-Cruz is an orthopedic surgeon at UMC, and credits a local lifeguard in his native Brooklyn with setting him on the path to high achievement in his academic life and career.
“I grew up in New York City, Brooklyn. I was just one of the kids running around…the ghetto, and when the lifeguard said, ‘You know, you kids need to do something.’ So…he started a swim team, and that’s what took us off the street, and we got into swimming…[and] that’s how he kept us out of trouble,” Pirela-Cruz said.
Pirela-Cruz was a natural, and was eventually offered college scholarships in swimming. In college, he developed an interest in biochemistry and thought he wanted to pursue a career in biochemistry.
“But I would see some of the struggles that some of the other faculty were having up there, then I had an epiphany—I think I want to go to medical school,” he said.
Pirela-Cruz worked in UMC’s level-one trauma center, performing microsurgery and reattaching limbs for many years, but then began his focus on issues with the upper body limbs.
“So now I can actually focus a lot more of my preference, which is primarily dealing with problems related to the upper extremity, which includes the fingertip all the way to the shoulder,” he said. “It’s always a learning process. We always keep trying to learn and try to advance our field. And we try to provide our patients with the best outcome, you know, and try to see what’s out there and what’s doable and what they have, and we try to give them the best.”
Pirela-Cruz said his philosophy is that if a patient comes to UMC they will get the best of care, but if he can’t help them, then he will find a solution, but sometimes there are barriers that need to be overcome.
“I try to find the way and the mechanism for getting that patient taken care of, or whatever it is. Or if they need another specialist, or whatever it is, we get that done, you know?” he said. “We work it through…we’re in a ‘people’ business. This is what we do as doctors.”
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