Fellow Spotlight: Yolanda R. Villalvazo, MD, MPH
According to Yolanda R. Villalvazo, MD, MPH, the culture of “Iowa nice” is alive and well at UI Health Care and in the Iowa City community.
For her, “Iowa nice” extends beyond simple pleasantries. She experienced the trope at its most meaningful after receiving a life-altering call in the middle of her Transplant Hepatology Fellowship training.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Dr. [Maria] Tejedor was sitting next to me when I got the news on the phone,” she said. “There must have been a higher power that put her next to me—because even though there’s never a perfect time to get that kind of news, it’s nice to have somebody next to you.”
Villalvazo—who underwent treatment while completing her fellowship—has established a strong legacy as the new liver transplant program’s first graduating fellow. Her diagnosis did not diminish the rigor or wholeheartedness she brings to learning and serving patients.
What remains so enduring to Villalvazo is how the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology embraced her with community, support, and humor throughout the entire process.
No place like Iowa
Villalvazo’s excellence in the fellowship came as no surprise. She has always loved the liver—and Iowa—serving as an internist at the Iowa City VA for 13 years while also teaching as a Clinical Associate Professor in General Internal Medicine.
Her journey at UI dates back further. It began her senior year as a University of California, Davis, undergraduate during a conversation with Tina Palmieri, MD, FACS, MCCM—an alumnus of UI’s Surgery Residency program. Palmieri described her quality training at Iowa and encouraged Villalvazo to apply to the Carver College of Medicine for medical school. Villalvazo, a California native, had not yet considered venturing into the Midwest—but Palmieri’s enthusiasm made Iowa feel worth the leap.
After submitting her application and being invited to interview, Villalvazo experienced a memorable snowfall during her first-ever trip to Iowa. This is also when she first encountered “Iowa nice.”
“I came through the door at Carver, and they knew my name. They had studied my application and my picture, and they knew it was me,” she said. “I fell in love with this place in a strange way—like, you take your dog out on a walk, and someone says ‘hi’ to you.”
This interview set the tone for her medical training at Carver, which Villalvazo found both rigorous and fulfilling. Wanting to work across a variety of health systems, she completed residency at Banner Health System in Arizona.
While training, Villalvazo was excited to reconnect with Iowa during the then-Insight Bowl in Tempe, AZ, where an alumni event took place as the Hawkeyes played. That day marked the beginning of her return to Iowa.
The former dean of UI’s College of Public Health, Sue Curry, PhD, was attending the same event. She approached Villalvazo, who was nearing residency graduation, to ask if she had considered practicing medicine in Iowa.
Reminded of her positive experiences during medical school, Villalvazo applied for a position here. Before long, she accepted a job offer. The rest is history—Villalvazo has loved building her family and career here. So much so that after she graduates from the fellowship program in July, she will stay on as a Transplant Hepatologist at the Iowa City VA and UI Health Care.
Dual perspective
Villalvazo wants to remain in Iowa for many reasons: rewarding experiences as a physician, educator, and fellow; positive relationships with colleagues; and the opportunity to further enrich the life she has already built here.
Yet another reason has become important the past year. After the care she received in our Division of Hematology and Oncology, Villalvazo wants to invest in UI and its patients all the more. She hopes to harness the patient perspective she gained throughout her diagnosis and treatment of cancer to become an even stronger subspecialist.
“Being a patient and then seeing patients really gives you a different perspective. A different perspective on what is needed at certain times,” she said. “I think if done well, your patient is going to be nothing but more connected to you because you provided care from a place of having lived it, too.”
Opening up about her diagnosis was challenging, but Villalvazo believes that if her experience can help just one person, then disclosure is worth it. For anyone who may undergo cancer treatment—whether a future patient, colleague, friend, or family member—she wonders, “How can I use my experience to support them?” Within the transplant realm specifically, she hopes to get involved with the post-transplant care and management of people with cancer.
“It sounds corny, but when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade,” she adds. “If you get new information or experience something new, you should do something positive with that.”
Villlalvazo said the support from her parents, husband, and children made it possible for her to embrace this philosophy. They are a part of what she calls her “cheerleading squad”—the people who helped center her during the most difficult moments.
More Than a Team
The past year taught Villalvazo the importance of slowing down, embracing small moments, and making time for novelty amid the “grind” of medicine. The GI Division encouraged her to prioritize these needs throughout treatment and fellowship training. To Villalvazo, they are family— showing up for everything with steady support or a good joke. Often, showing up with both.
“When you have a whole department, a team, giving you all the support they can so that you can do as well as possible—I mean, how can you not do well?” she said. “You have difficult days in medicine and in life, but it feels like we are a family. We joke, we show up for each other. People have always asked me, ‘You are a Californian, why don’t you go back?’ After all the support I’ve found here, why would I want to be anywhere else?”
