Her Story
About Elisa
Elisa Chaparro is a physical medicine and rehabilitation resident physician who is pursuing a fellowship in interventional pain medicine. Coming from immigrant parents from Mexico, she initially faced discouragement from pursuing medicine due to financial concerns but persisted after finding that nursing was not a fit. During medical school she worked unconventional part-time jobs while developing an interest in the musculoskeletal system through recreational soccer and work with cerebral palsy patients, physical therapy, and sports medicine. This led her to choose physical medicine and rehabilitation over orthopedic surgery. With three years remaining in her residency, Chaparro plans to integrate her residency skills into pain medicine practice, ideally within an orthopedic medical group or an academic setting where she can teach residents. She is bilingual in Spanish and is learning Russian, Polish, and French to better serve her community. Chaparro attributes her success to her determination to avoid the self-limiting beliefs she observed in her family and to build a career she could be proud of. She advises young women entering medicine to seek mentorship early and to persist toward their goals.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Elisa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think honestly my parents and family didn't really have jobs that they were proud of. They kind of conformed to whatever they could get. They had a lot of self-limiting beliefs. And I didn't want to fall into that. I wanted a job I would be proud of.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Honestly try and find mentorship early. Because there's gonna be a lot of people that are gonna discourage you from doing things because you don't meet the status quo of the applicant pool. But if that's what you really want, and if it's meant for you, it won't really pass you by, but you also can't take a seat back either.
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