A physician leader embraces learning: ‘Every patient I meet teaches me something’

Early in his life, Pedro Sanchez discovered that he wanted to be a physician.

Pedro Sanchez, MD, is the director of pediatric medical genetics at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s. In June, he was named Physician of The Year by the National Hispanic Medical Association.

His father suffered a disability after being struck by a bus as a teenager, and Sanchez recalls searching for doctors repeatedly over the years. Some of those experiences were disappointing, and they stuck with him.

“To find someone who listened and cared and treated was a very difficult, difficult experience as a pre-teen, to be someone who's watching a lot of doors close,” he tells Chief Healthcare Executive®. “And then when we would find someone who cared, it was just amazing, someone who would return calls and really follow through with the treatment plan."

“I think that's where it started,” he says.

Now, Pedro Sanchez, MD, is the director of pediatric medical genetics at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s. In June, he was named Physician of The Year by the National Hispanic Medical Association. He was honored at the association’s annual conference in Anaheim, California.

Sanchez says he was “definitely in shock” when he heard that he was receiving the award.

“There's a lot of strong competition out there, and people who are really in the trenches upfront against all the challenges in healthcare and doing incredible things for all the communities out there,” he says.

He says he felt a wave of emotions.“I really love to teach and mentor, and so it put me out there to say, ‘Hey, you could do it too,’” Sanchez says.

The association paid tribute to Sanchez for his service to the Hispanic community, his work in pediatric medicine and his commitment to health equity.

In a recent interview, Sanchez discussed his career, advances in genetics, and working with young patients and families. (See part of our conversation in this video. The story continues below.)

Constantly learning

While he enjoys teaching and says he likely would have been a teacher if he hadn’t gone into medicine, Sanchez also says he relishes adding to his knowledge base. And he says his patients are wonderful teachers.

“I'm very careful with my words,” he says. “You know, there's lots of doctors out there, but to be a physician is a different space, and it's really the healing process. And so, I think it's still evolving. And so every patient I meet teaches me something.”

Sanchez says the learning mindset is vital in genetics, a field that has experienced rapid changes.

“My field has shifted every five years,” he says. “I just gave the graduation lecture at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and I was telling them whatever you imagine your field is going to look like in five years or 10 years, it's going to be drastically different.”

Sanchez calls genetics “the best field of medicine, because it's growing drastically and it's changing.”

Sanchez says he was drawn to genetics in large part due to his mentor in medical school, a respected family physician, developing stomach cancer and dying at the age of 41.

“I was like, there's something else that we can do,” Sanchez says. “And that sort of took me down the rabbit hole of personalized medicine and trying to catch things early so that we can treat people early.”

‘Old world medicine’

Sanchez is certified in both genetics and pediatrics, and loves wearing both hats. Even with advances in genetics, Sanchez says he appreciates that the field also requires time with the patient’s family.

“I like to spend some time with the family,” he says. “So it's very much old world medicine, traditional history, physical exam, really reading their journey. I don't just treat an individual. I treat a whole family, but sometimes I get the clue from the parent or the cousin, and I look at pictures and I get to know them, and it's really a nice way to practice.”

Sanchez says he appreciates the connections he makes with the families of young patients.

“I’m a people person, and it's just nice to get connected with people and help them navigate the complexities of what they're going through,” he says. “So, you know, every time I meet someone, there's a connection with their story and their journey.”

And Sanchez also enjoys the opportunity to help families connect with others in similar situations.

“My first effort is to connect a family with a new community, a new family, to say you are part of this other community that's also looking for answers,” Sanchez says. “And really, I try not to close any doors, because now I know that even things that used to be very devastating and lethal at birth are starting to have some hope.”

Technology has led to new understanding in genomics, but that’s only part of the equation, he says.

“I'm getting answers, but connecting an answer with a treatment is the next wave, and we're starting to do that. And it's just the beginning,” Sanchez says.

“For some conditions, we're starting to have gene therapy,” he says. “And I think it's a very exciting time.”