Physician's Assistant Joins MMC Clinic
By: Lance Catchings | The Port Lavaca Wave
The Memorial Medical Clinic has a new staff member, Angela Marie Garcia-Dobbins, PA-C.
Dobbins joined the clinic approximately three weeks ago as a physician's assistant. The Victoria native is excited about her return to South Texas and working in Calhoun County.
"It's a little strange being back in this area," Dobbins said. "It has grown a lot, and it brings back a lot of memories. I want to bring medicine to the people of Calhoun County as best as I can. I also want to provide quality care for people of all aspects of life. I am bilingual, so being able to speak Spanish and treat patients in their own language is a plus."
Dobbins posts an extensive resume. Upon graduating from Victoria High School she received a scholarship to Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma. She knew she wanted to be in medicine from a young age.
"I came from a low-income family, and I wanted to break that cycle and become something," she said. "Ever since then I wanted to go on to college, and I had a very supportive family. I took every advanced placement course that Victoria High offered. I got a scholarship to Oral Roberts and went on mission trips and was able to do medical trips."
"After I graduated I came back to Victoria and worked for Habitat for Humanity for awhile. With habitat I lead a team in Ecuador and we built a couple of houses," she said.
"Then I was accepted to the University of Texas respiratory program in Galveston. I worked as a respiratory therapist at the children's burn hospital on Galveston Island."
Some of people would feel satisfied at this point, but not Dobbins.
"I felt that I wanted to do more, so I continued on to PA school in West Virginia at Mountain State University," she said.
Her original plan was to get her degree and start practicing, but sometimes life throws a curveball.
"My plan was to get my degree and come back, but God knew otherwise. I met my husband Josh, got married and had our two kids. Isaiah is two and Eliana is nine months old. I started working at a hospital in West Virginia in internal medicine then moved on to a family practice. In March, my husband was relocated with Alcoa and that is what moved us to the area," she said.
She believes that some of her most fulfilling medical experiences have come from her time spent on mission trips. She has volunteered her time in more than five countries to help those less fortunate.
"At Oral Roberts I did missions in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico," she said.
"I wanted the experience, and I wanted to offer care to people that could not afford it. I wanted the opportunity to go and help those people. At that time I wasn't certified, so I just did what I could."
After she became a certified PA she continued to travel abroad to help those in need.
"As a PA I spent six weeks in Uganda and practiced at a clinic there and went into the rural village areas," she said. "The experience was amazing and at the same time very humbling. You see the little that they have and yet they are still very grateful. I was really able to get into some roots there. Christmas Day we went out and hunted down our own chicken, and it was huge for them because meat was more of a luxury. It makes you think that you shouldn't be ungrateful for what you have."
Starting Aug. 19 the hours at Memorial Medical Clinic will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Patients may call to schedule an appointment, but most walk-ins are accepted. The clinic is located on the second floor at Memorial Medical Center.