Carla Laos
Hazel Health
Austin, TX USA
"I've learned over the years there’s a different kind of smart. This whole concept of emotional intelligence - there’s an aptitude there that is just as useful in the medical realm."
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Carla's work combines: Medicine, Science, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
English Language and Literature, General
University of Texas at Austin
Doctorate
Medicine
University of Guadalajara
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I’ve always gravitated towards children, from summer jobs as a camp counselor to volunteering in a TBI unit after college, to coaching cheerleading and rowing.
2.
My father completed medical school in Peru. I decided to consider pursuing medicine from another cultural viewpoint, so I decided to attend medical school in Mexico.
3.
Afterwards, I placed in my first choice pediatric residency program at the University of Florida at Jacksonville. I loved it!
4.
I paid attention to my leadership potential and was named the pediatric resident of the year, PICU residency of the year, and emergency medicine resident of the year.
5.
I landed back in Austin after training at Dell Children’s Medical Center, where I was active as a clinical instructor and gave lectures to fellows and residents.
6.
I took a risk in joining a brand new hospital in Austin and moved up from Assistant Medical Director to Medical Director in 3 months. I held that position for nearly 4 years.
7.
As a minority from a family of immigrants, but also as a lover of learning, I was drawn to the Hazel Health mission of providing all children with access to amazing pediatric care.
8.
I felt that with my experience in pediatrics, my love of working with teams of providers, and my ability to bridge quality with a great culture and outstanding care, I had to try out for the team!
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
You're not the smartest person in your class, you can't memorize things as quickly or regurgitate information.
How I responded:
Being comfortable with failure and what you do after failure is important. Choose to surround yourself with people who encourage you and don’t discourage you. There’s a different kind of learning that comes from failure versus being successful with everything the first time around. There is so much to be gained from how you pick yourself up and how you learn to move forward onto the next step.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
As a female, there is still some gender bias that happens in medicine. People assume I’m not a physician; I've been stopped by security because I don’t "look like a doctor" or people have assumed I’m a nurse.