“I didn’t know how good I was at science before I got to public school. When I was younger, I would always have free time to myself. I’d just roam around. Just like put stuff together, take things apart, just to see how things work. So, I always gravitated towards science. And just being around the hospital — I had no desire to fulfill it and be like ‘that’s what I’m gonna do.’ I always had my parents’ friends ask, “What specialty are you gonna be in?” And like, fight over me. Once I was in high school, I had sports and stuff and primarily just focused on that.”
“From there I was like, ‘Oh I guess I’ll do an MBA so I can run the show,’ thinking more logistically than anything. Because I saw how the ‘parent’ life was. I didn’t know any other parent life where both weren’t working in the hospital or anything. My senior year, my dad passed away unexpectedly. And dealing with that, like being at the service where all of his colleagues and patients were, it was something I hadn’t seen. Like, that side of my dad’s life. What came home was the tired man from work who had been saving lives all day. I never got to experience the guy who was actually saving those lives in the hospital. I can go around my hometown and the people who had surgeries with him — he’s the anesthesiologist — but the patients know him more than the surgeon. I still go around my hometown and people know my name just because of my dad. And it’s a pretty big town. So after that, if I had any doubts about doing medicine, then that wiped it away.”
“Do you think your dad would be proud of you today?”
“Yeah. I do.”
Francisco is the type of person that you assume must have a vibrant life story simply by his aura. He rolled up to our interview (quite literally, he came on a scooter), and jumped right into a dialogue with me that offered an easygoing vibe. At only 22 years old, Francisco speaks with a maturity far beyond his years. He doesn’t stick with just one friend group or social designation because he doesn’t want to be confined by labels — a quality that many wish to be true for themselves, but never summon up the courage to execute in actuality. Francisco doesn’t flow with the status quo. As he was telling me stories about his life, I got a very Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door vibe. Life isn’t formulaic for Francisco. He worries about the here-and-now and allows the rest to work itself out on its own. He is in no imaginable way, average or ordinary. I know this about him after speaking with him. Eventually, I think the whole community he chooses to serve as a doctor will come to know that, too. After all … like father, like son.
Francisco Brito is originally from Corpus Christi, Texas. He attended his first year of undergraduate at Texas Christian University, and then spent his next two years at A&M University. He distinguished himself by graduating with a BS in biology after only three years of college. Francisco currently attends the University of Texas Medical Branch as a second-year allopathic medical student. He is not sure what he would like to specialize in just yet, but currently neurology, anesthesiology, genetics and surgery are at the top of his list.
Humans of Medicine explores the character, struggles and humanity of the people who have devoted their lives to medicine, a compilation of stories from all practitioners of the healing arts.
Columnist
The University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine
Rosemary Beavers is a medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She intends to specialize in neurosurgery after graduating in 2018. Rosemary is passionate about humanism in medicine, feminism and sexual assault education, all of which govern her overarching goal to open comprehensive care clinics in third world countries for survivors of sexual violence. When she’s not studying, she loves to paint & laugh with friends.
Humans of Medicine
Humans of Medicine — rather obviously modeled after Humans of New York — strives to show the personal interests, struggles and humanity that exist behind people who have devoted their lives to the medical profession. Self-identity is too often compromised for the sake of one’s career in our realm, and it’s important for the world to not forget that there exists a music lover, salsa dancer or star chef with an actual story outside of the caretaker role. Humans of Medicine is a compilation of unique stories coming from the lips of doctors, medical students, nurses, PT’s, OT’s and PA’s.