People Profile – Dr. Flavia Tejada Frisancho

/in , /by

Flavia Tejada Frisancho, MD, (PGY 2; Internal Medicine)

For Flavia Tejada Frisancho, MD, (PGY 2; Internal Medicine), leaving her home country of Peru to pursue her dreams may not have been easy. But every challenge has made her stronger, she says, and she hopes to inspire others—especially women and minorities in medicine—to chase their goals fearlessly.

Medicine has always been a part of Dr. Tejada Frisancho’s life and her family’s story. Her grandfather, a surgeon, met her grandmother, a scrub nurse, right in the operating room. And Dr. Tejada Frisancho was born during her parents own medical residencies—her mom’s in ophthalmology and her dad’s in oncology/head and neck surgery. (“Honestly, I have no idea how they managed—shoutout to all the parents going through residency!” she adds.)

Seeing firsthand the impact her parents had on their patients, Dr. Tejada Frisancho knew she wanted to dedicate her life to something just as meaningful. She says the cherry on top was getting to apply science—her favorite subject—to real life in the most impactful way.

“I always thought I would follow in my family’s footsteps and pursue a surgical specialty. After all, surgery is practically in my DNA,” she says. “But during medical school, everything changed when I rotated through internal medicine, especially critical care and cardiology.”

Dr. Tejada Frisancho loved the critical thinking required in internal medicine and, sometimes, the opportunity to play detective. She also liked the chance to build long-term relationships with her patients and advocate for them throughout their journey.

Dr. Tejada Frisancho says the unwavering support from her program, mentors, and colleagues has helped her succeed at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. She appreciates that MedStar Health encourages growth and innovation, whether through hands-on learning, participating in committees, or engaging with diverse patient populations, and she’s eager to pursue opportunities to be more involved this year.

“I believe that leadership and advocacy are essential in medicine, and I Iook forward to finding ways to contribute beyond clinical care,” she says.

Along with her residency program’s book club, Dr. Tejada Frisancho is currently reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. “It explores vanity and the consequences of unchecked ambition—something that can even resonate in medicine at times!” she says. When she’s away from the hospital, Dr. Tejada Frisancho also enjoys painting and loves to explore art galleries and discover local artists.

People Profile – Dr. Olivia Perez de Acha

/in , /by

Olivia Perez de Acha, MD, (PGY 4; Internal Medicine)

Olivia Perez de Acha, MD, (PGY 4; Internal Medicine) says it was the TV medical drama “House” and a desire to help others that inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. (Luckily, she also discovered a love for anatomy and biology.)

Real life in the hospital may not play out exactly like it does on screen, but Dr. Perez de Acha likes that internal medicine is never repetitive and allows her to encounter cases—from cellulitis in the foot to heart failure to leukemias and glomerulonephritis—that touch every subspecialty in medicine.

Dr. Perez de Acha was born in Madrid, Spain, but she’s a Coloradan by marriage (Go, Broncos!). And, after four years in D.C., she also considers the District home. This summer, she’ll complete her residency, but she won’t be going far. In July, Dr. Perez de Acha will begin a fellowship in hematology oncology at Johns Hopkins Medicine. As she continues her studies, she’s hopeful about the future of this field.

“I am particularly excited about the new possibilities of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy being applied not only in malignant hematology but also in solid oncology and even in non-malignant diseases like Myasthenia Gravis or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),” she says.

Dr. Perez de Acha is one of four chief residents for internal medicine at MedStar Health Georgetown—Washington Hospital Center, and she also serves on the House Staff Diversity Council Committee.

Reflecting on her time at MedStar Health GME, Dr. Perez de Acha acknowledges how important her relationships with mentors and friends have been during her residency. “Enjoy your training years,” she tells colleagues. “They allow you to build relationships that last forever.”

As the founder of the MedStar Health GME Running Club, her close colleagues likely know about her love for the outdoors and her dedication to “crazy outdoor adventures,” as she describes them. They may not know that she also loves spending time indoors scrapbooking and has been building an album of treasured Polaroids for more than 15 years.