Blanca Herrera, MD

My inter­est as an Emer­gency Med­i­cine physi­cian includes edu­ca­tion on fol­low up and impor­tance of com­pli­ance, cul­tur­al sen­si­tiv­i­ty, and cri­sis man­age­ment. Being part of a care team, allows me to pro­vide addi­tion­al ser­vices, that may not be oth­er­wise avail­able. For exam­ple, pro­vid­ing patients with spe­cif­ic fol­low up instruc­tions includ­ing rea­sons to return is impor­tant, allow­ing them to take charge of their care. In addi­tion, treat­ing a diverse set of patients, it is impor­tant to under­stand their back­grounds, cul­tures and liv­ing sit­u­a­tions. Some­times sim­ple solu­tions can be accom­plished just by under­stand­ing their envi­ron­ment. As a bilin­gual provider, patients are often relieved they can com­mu­ni­cate in their native lan­guage and pro­vide more detailed descrip­tions of their situations.

I enjoy mul­ti­ple activ­i­ties out­side of med­i­cine, includ­ing paint­ing, danc­ing, cycling and spend­ing time with fam­i­ly. I use acrylic paints and often paint large can­vas­es and murals. My favorite project was a mur­al I paint­ed at a wom­en’s shel­ter as a stu­dent, it entailed a large under­wa­ter scene in the chil­dren’s play­room wall. For me it was a gift for the chil­dren, as they tran­si­tioned from their stress­ful sit­u­a­tions. I enjoy danc­ing sal­sa music, it took me at least a year to learn, but over­all the process was worth it. For the past three years, I start­ed cycling and found it to be a great avenue for well­ness and stress relief. It allows me to set goals and mon­i­tor progress. Last­ly, I spend a lot of time with my fam­i­ly we cel­e­brate hol­i­days, birth­days and spe­cial events all year around. I think it is impor­tant to keep your­self engaged out­side of work, this will make you an over­all well pre­pared provider.