Dr. Dimas Espinola (’10) has joined Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, as a Staff Attending Physician. Espinola recently completed his fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Espinola, who commissioned in the Army with the Health Profession Scholarship Program (HPSP), was also promoted to the rank of Army Major. He will remain on Active Duty in his role with Brooke Army Medical Center.
“It’s been a long road,” Espinola said. “Clinton School from 2008 to 2010, medical school 2010 to 2014, and pediatrics internship, residency, fellowship from 2014 to 2020, but with many positives to focus on along the way.”
Espinola studied biology with a pre-medical concentration as an undergraduate at the College of Holy Cross, but initially wasn’t sure that was going to be his career path. He was working as a medical assistant in Boston, Mass., when he first learned about the Clinton School of Public Service.
“I thought it would provide a good opportunity to align with health-related public service projects, and I thought it would give me two more years to consider the medical field as a future career path,” Espinola said.
As a Clinton School student, he successfully bridged his field service work and his health-related interests.
His Practicum project – which takes teams of first-year students working with Arkansas-based organizations – worked in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Human Services on a children’s behavioral health project.
For his International Public Service Project, he traveled to Ghana to work with Unite for Sight, an eyecare nonprofit. He partnered with Arkansas Children’s Hospital on a health disparities project called Natural Wonders for his Capstone project.
He also volunteered at Arkansas Children’s Hospital as a first-year student and held discussions with Dr. Gary Wheeler (‘07), another Clinton School graduate now working in the medical field, to discuss public health and public service.
After earning his Master of Public Service, he attended the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed all of his post-medical school training – first in Pediatrics and then in a Pediatrics Endocrinology subspecialty – at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He also earned a Master of Public Health during his fellowship.
Long term, Espinola said he would like to transition into public health and health policy work, and knows the day-to-day work of a physician provides a necessary background.
“Ultimately, I envision stepping away from clinical practice more and focusing on public health and policy work,” Espinola said. “To me, the intersection of medicine, public health, and public service is a focus on public health and health policy work.”
The contents, views, and opinions expressed in this article are those of Dimas Espinola and do not reflect the official policies or positions of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the United States Government.
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