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Diana Ramos: The First Latina to Guard California’ s Health
THE LOS ANGELES NATIVE— THE FIRST TO HOLD THE POSITION OF SURGEON GENERAL— IS THE DAUGHTER OF A SINGLE MOTHER FROM SOUTH CENTRAL WHO WORKED UP TO THREE JOBS
›› BY: PABLO SCARPELLINI | L. A.
There are stories that sum up the meaning of the American Dream better than any speech. Diana Ramos’ s is one of them. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, in a home with no luxuries and no connections, but with a mother who never told her she couldn’ t, Ramos became in 2022 the first Latina to hold the position of Surgeon General of California— the official medical voice of the most populous state in the country.
The path was neither short nor easy. Ramos studied medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, completed her residency at the LAC + USC Medical Center, earned a Master of Public Health at UCLA and an MBA at UC Irvine. All of that while breaking ground in a system where Latinos represent 40 % of California’ s population but only 6 % of its physicians.
“ I am the first in my family to go to college,” she recounts.“ How do you go to college? How do you pay for it, when
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My greatest inspiration is my mother. She always told me that nothing is impossible, even though she didn’ t know how you became a doctor.”
tuition is three times my mother’ s salary?” The answer, she says, was faith and one person who always believed in her.“ My greatest inspiration and my greatest cheerleader is my mom. She didn’ t know how you became a doctor, but she always told me: you can do it, nothing is impossible.”
That validation also came from her own patients, when as a pre-med student she served as a translator in community clinics.“ Patients would tell me: you’ re going to be a good doctor. And I thought: wow, I feel validated.” More than three decades later, she remains a gynecologist and obstetrician at Kaiser Permanente, never having abandoned direct patient care.
As Surgeon General, Ramos has made three themes the core of her tenure: reproductive health, mental health, and Adverse Childhood Experiences. But if there is one battle that defines her objectives, it is maternal mortality. California has the lowest rate in the country, but the numbers remain unacceptable for Black women, who die two to three times more often than others during pregnancy or the postpartum period.
“ More than 60 % of maternal deaths occur after the mother leaves the hospital,” she explains. That is why she launched the One Small Thing campaign, inviting family members and friends to offer a concrete gesture to new mothers: wash the dishes, look after the baby, accompany them to the doctor.“ Everyone gets excited when the baby is born, and then they forget about the mother.” Loneliness
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BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Born: Los Angeles, California.
Background: Raised in South Central Los Angeles in a Latino family.
Education: Medicine( USC); Master of Public Health( UCLA); MBA( UC Irvine).
Position: Surgeon General of California since September 2022, appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom.
and isolation, she reminds us, are the greatest predictors of postpartum depression.
Her term ends in a few months with the governor’ s mandate. The future is still open, she says, but her direction is clear:“ I am going to continue being the voice of opportunity for Latinos, for women, for everyone.” ●