Member of the Month: Gabriela Z. Hill, MD

Third-year resident Gabriela Z. Hill, MD, will complete her residency at Houston Methodist Baytown in the coming months, and hopes to practice full-spectrum family medicine in her community. She has lived throughout the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast for her entire life, including completing medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Hill has undergraduate training in ecology and evolutionary biology, which she says informs her practice style as a physician.

Who or what inspired you to become a family physician?
Although I initially planned to pursue OBGYN, my repeated exposure to medically underserved and diverse populations throughout my childhood, undergraduate, and medical school training helped me realize how much fulfillment I receive from connecting with patients from all walks of life and changing lives through timely preventive care. Incorporating advocacy into my practice is a personal goal, as I always strive to be a physician/servant of my community. The Gulf Coast provides a perfect intersection of my interests in advocacy, diverse patient populations, and enjoyment of the great outdoors.

You previously attended AAFP’s Family Medicine Advocacy Summit on behalf of TAFP. What was that experience like?
Although I have some prior experience with political engagement, I was incredibly grateful for (and impressed with) the excellent training provided at the summit to empower any physician with the right tools to engage in meaningful and sustained political advocacy. A surprising outcome from my participation was the gift of community; the connection to others in my profession with similar drive, passion, and beliefs is something I treasure.

Why is advocacy personally important to you?
From a young age, I was raised to believe in the importance of service and community building. I've had the privilege of having role models in my life who have refused to accept the status quo when it results in injustice. As the daughter of an immigrant, I also have witnessed firsthand the pain and suffering that result when citizens are prevented from exercising the rights of political engagement that are so readily available in the United States. As physicians, those in our profession are in a unique and powerful position to exert influence beyond that of an average citizen. In my final year I established the role of advocacy chair within my residency program with the hopes of facilitating political engagement in future generations of family medicine physicians and am now part of the TAFP Council on Medical Practice.

Why do you choose to be a TAFP member?
To quote a famous poem by John Donne, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." Building community with others is part of the reason I became a physician in the first place. Not only is it a pleasure to engage and learn with my peers, but I also believe in the power of our professional community to advocate for changes needed to keep family medicine both sustainable for current and future physicians and accessible for the patients of Texas.

What do you enjoy doing outside of medicine?
One of my favorite hobbies is using my children and dog as an excuse to play outside. I also love cooking new recipes, working out, and pretending I’m an interior decorator/architect.

TAFP’s Member of the Month program highlights Texas family physicians in TAFP News Now and on the TAFP website. We feature a biography and a Q&A with a different TAFP member each month and his or her unique approach to family medicine. If you know an outstanding family physician colleague who you think should be featured as a Member of the Month or if you’d like to tell your own story, nominate yourself or your colleague by contacting TAFP by email at tafp@tafp.org or by phone at (512) 329-8666.