Edelis Diaz, NP - Class of 2019, First Generation College Student
Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, One Medical
Edelis graduated from UC Merced with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology, where she was very involved on campus through Health Promotion, Campus Activities Board, Phi Delta Epsilon, was a peer instructor and an orientation leader. her passion for healthcare started with a genuine love for helping others. Volunteering with Dignity Health allowed Edelis to shadow a Family Nurse Practitioner, and she quickly realized the FNP role was the perfect fit for her goals - offering meaningful patient relationships, clinical autonomy, and flexibility without the longer training path of an MD.
A few years into practicing family medicine and she truly loves what she does. She shares that one of the greatest strengths of being an FNP is the ability to specialize and evolve throughout your career. UC Merced shaped her journey by providing leadership opportunities, mentorship, and hands on experiences that solidified her path in healthcare. To future students she shares: get involved, seek mentors, and don’t be afraid to carve out a path that aligns with both your passion and your lifestyle goals.
Contact: Linkedin, edelisdiaz@gmail.com
Zi Wang, MD - Class of 2011
Vascular Neurologist, Vice Chief of Staff, Chair of Quality and Safety, Sutter Memorial Medical Center
While attending UC Merced, Zi worked in research starting his freshman year, and as a medical scribe at Memorial Medical Center. Zi was greatly impacted by his professor and mentor, Dr. Anna Song, who taught him all about health psychology and health disparities. Zi also recalls at his graduation ceremony, Provost Keith Alley had him promise to come back and serve the Central Valley. Zi received an MD from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, went on to complete residency training at Yale School of Medicine, and did a fellowship at UCSF. Dr. Zi Wang serves the central valley as a Vascular Neurologist, Vice Chief of Staff, and Chair of Quality and Safety at Sutter Memorial Medical Center.
Contact: LinkedIn, zi.wang@aya.yale.edu
Desmond M. Daley, MD - Class of 2010
Board-certified Internal Medicine Physician, Clinical Professor, Attending Physician, UPMC
Desmond is a board-certified internist who has seen firsthand how patients fall through the cracks of a fragmented healthcare system, and built solutions to close those gaps. His interest in healthcare has been shaped by years of working closely with patients whose outcomes are influenced by far more than medical treatment alone. Across different clinical and community settings, Dr. Daley has seen how gaps in communication, limited resources, and everyday life challenges can quietly undermine even the best care plans. These experiences motivated Dr. Daley to pursue a career focused not only on treating illness, but on improving how care is delivered and experienced. Dr. Daley co-founded Cardivya to serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries and safety net populations with integrated social determinants of health screening and patient navigation, combining frontlilne clinical insight with the technical ability to design platforms that actually work for vulnerable populations.
Contact: LinkedIn, desmond.daley@gmail.com
Dylan Miranda - Class of 2021
Incoming medical student, Emergency department scribe at Doctors Medical Center
UC Merced shaped Dylan's journey through its rigorous scientific courses, great resources, and great teacher/student ratio which fostered better engagement. UC Merced provided many opportunities and resources from research opportunities to the foundational STEM courses essential for Dylan to build a strong scientific foundation for the critical thinking and knowledge needed for medicine.
Contact: dmiranda4@ucmerced.edu
Cristhian Gutierrez Huerta, PhD - Class of 2018, First Generation College Student
Current medical student, Medical College of Wisconsin
Cristhian was drawn to healthcare because he wanted to give back to communities that do not always get the care or representation they deserve. Cristhian shares that UC Merced gave him more than just a degree, it gave him mentors, hands-on research experiences, and a community that helped him grow both personally and academically. It is where he learned to ask big questions, lead with intention, and believe in himself as a first-generation student. His advice to current and future students, "Your story matters here. Who you are and where you come from are strengths, and UC Merced will help you build on them".
Contact: Linkedin, cghuerta95@gmail.com
Paloma Chavez - Class of 2018
Current medical student, Keck School of Medicine, USC
After graduating from UC Merced, Paloma served as the lead Medical Spanish Interpreter at a student-run free clinic. There she quickly noticed how few Latino/a physicians and medical students were in the room; yet nearly 90% of the patients we served were monolingual Spanish speakers. This led her to realize she wanted to do more than interpret. She wanted families from underserved backgrounds to have physicians who looked like them, spoke their language, understood their culture, and could be a familiar face they felt safe with. UC Merced's Central Valley communities deepened Paloma's awareness of language barriers in healthcare and strengthened her desire to become a physician who serves Spanish-speaking families with dignity and cultural understanding.
To future Bobcat Physicians: your background is your strength. Our communities need you, and you are more capable than you think!
Contact: dianapch@usc.edu
