Don’t think there are opportunities in the Bronx to achieve your dreams?  Think again.

Julissa de La Cruz is a young, single mom, living in the Bronx, but any standard narrative ends there.

Every Tuesday night she gathers young Bronx college students at Family Health Center, Montefiore’s primary care site, to cultivate their dreams of becoming doctors and serving their communities.

The group of 40 students – some of whom are the first in their families to attend college –  is named Bronx Community Health Leaders (BxCHL), a yearlong peer network support group where its recent crop of students graduated. Members start each meeting in a circle in the primary care practice where Julissa once received medical care as a child. They state their favorite superhero and how they envision their career – focusing themselves on their goals and what attributes they want to bring to their work. The students, along with their mentors, discuss ways they will improve Bronx residents’ wellness and their experience receiving care.

Before starting this program, Julissa recognized that her ambition to be a doctor would be fraught with obstacles. She realized opportunities for pre-med students in the Bronx were scarce. She tapped her best resource available: Dr.  Juan Robles, a mentor holding support groups for patients well passed his working hours. He inspired Julissa to start a volunteer program at his clinic.  He secured space, coordinated weekly mentoring sessions with other doctors, such as Dr. Maria Gbur who provides guidance on goal-setting for the group, and is working with Julissa to push the students to arm themselves with the tools and resumes necessary to get into their top choice medical school.

Julissa and the Family Health Center staff benefit from cheering on the Health Leaders. Members create monthly newsletters, update the bulletin boards in the lobby, conduct follow-up calls, help patients sign up for Mychart (software used to record patient data and facilitate secure conversations between patients and providers), set up yoga classes and teach English lessons to patients while they are waiting for appointments. Like true medical professionals, they collect data on each endeavor and present their progress and experiences every Tuesday evening.

On June 21, some of the Bronx Community Health Leaders celebrated the graduation of the next generation of home-grown health care providers. Julissa was there to celebrate with them. She just completed her first year at Einstein College of Medicine. Leaders including Caroline Chung and Varina Clark who will be attending Weill Cornell School of Medicine and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, respectively, spoke to their peers about how Bronx Community Health Leaders became a vital part of their career journey.

Perhaps it is apt that at Tuesday night’s graduation one of the members, Varina Clark, described Julissa as “Superwoman in disguise.” Julissa was not always on the path to medical success. Throughout her academic career, she faced financial hardships, single parenthood, and illness. Despite her struggles, she was able to graduate valedictorian of Lehman College’s pre-health department and scored in the 94th percentile on the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), securing multiple acceptances to medical schools with full scholarships. She created BxCHL to support other leaders in reaching their goals and join her in becoming the Bronx’s next generation of healthcare providers.Bronx Community Health Leaders volunteer in many ways from setting up patient rooms to scheduling appointments to facilitating support groups. If you are interested in becoming part of a peer network and giving back Bronx Community Health Leaders urges you to visit their site:  http://www.bxchleaders.com/  and/ or contact them theleadership.fhc@gmail.com