Carlos Cano and Nathan Duran are from Hatch, New Mexico, a small farming community known for its chile production. Now in their thirties, they have known each other since kindergarten and have shared various academic milestones including being in honors classes throughout high school and each graduating from New Mexico State University.
Cano and Duran also shared graduate academic experiences. Cano received a doctorate in medicine and Duran a doctorate in pharmacy. Both completed post-graduate residencies at the University of New Mexico Hospital.
That they chose careers in the medical field is ironic as one of the earliest memories of their friendship is a controversy about chicken pox.
"He will swear on God's green earth that I gave him the chicken pox," Duran says of Cano. "I will deny it because I definitely don't remember doing that, and poor Carlos was out for quite a while too."
Duran and Cano’s families came to the U.S. from Mexico and worked in the agricultural field in Hatch, where they raised their children. The men’s parents knew each other before Cano and Duran were born.
"Some of my earliest memories are about being on the farm, either in the tractor with my dad or working in the fields," said Duran. "I pretty much worked in the fields up through high school. I would work in the summers to make money and Carlos worked in the onion sheds. It definitely gave us an appreciation for hard work."
Although their immediate family members did not have advanced college degrees or a medical background, both Cano and Duran’s families were not only supportive and encouraging of their academic achievements but also adamant that two men take every opportunity to build a better life through education.
Cano was selected to join the College Assistance Migrant Program at NMSU, which provides support to incoming freshmen students from farmworker families. This was crucial for a first-generation college student like Cano, who continues to have ties to the program.
Both Cano and Duran each earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and would attend medical school and pharmacy school, respectively, at the University of New Mexico.
Since they were both moving from Las Cruces to Albuquerque, they became roommates until they graduated. Both medical and pharmacy programs are rigorous and demanding in terms of emotional and academic investment. During these difficult four years they provided a support system for each other.
Carlos is now a physician and professor at the University of New Mexico Medical School. His work includes a variety of different duties from clinic work, to hospital work, to supervising and teaching residents.
"My primary role is an assistant professor," Cano said. "I'm also an attending physician in the context of that. Most weeks I'm in clinic at least one half-day. I'm also the education director at my clinic. We're a resident clinic that has between 15 and 19 medical residents throughout the week. I prepare lectures for them and I also coordinate the students. They are seeing their own patients, but because they're still in training, they have to be supervised by one of the attending doctors."
Duran is a pharmacist clinician, considered an advanced practice provider in the state of New Mexico, which was designed to help cover some of the state's gaps in health care providers. Similar to a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, pharmacist clinicians manage chronic diseases and have prescribing privileges.
"I actually don't work in a retail pharmacy or even in a hospital," said Duran. "I instead work in clinics and I see my own patients for anticoagulation management and diabetes management. It's nice that I'm able to use my knowledge of medications while also having the autonomy to make a more of an impact on my patients' healthcare."
Even now, the two men cross paths in their medical careers. "We now have a lot of mutual patients," said Cano. "So sometimes I'll open a patient's chart and I'll see his name on there because he helped them recently with blood thinner management."
A highlight of the two’s men’s friendship was when Duran officiated at Cano’s wedding in 2019. “It was beautiful to be part of that,” said Duran. “It was an unforgettable moment that will be forever immortalized with the photos of my emotions during the vow exchange of the newlyweds. I hope those photos never see the light of day.”
Both men have found great satisfaction in having pursued STEM careers that serve others and say they look forward to giving back to their communities and students of similar backgrounds. Cano and Duran acknowledge that they could not have achieved their goals without the support of their families and mentors, and will strive to be mentors to the next generation.
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