We are migrant doctors. Think of us as guest workers in white coats. Temporarily on loan to the United States from Mexico, we offer medical services and health care to migrant workers and their families. Most of our patients are Mexican. In some respects, it’s as if we never left home. In other ways, it feels like we’re on a different planet.

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We are people of science who learned our trade at some of the best medical schools in our country. We’ve been taught to put stock in what can be proven in a hospital or laboratory. We don’t usually believe in superstition.

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But we’re also Mexican. So we don’t disbelieve in it either. We wear red bracelets on our wrists to connect with parents — and also to protect us from mal de ojo (evil eye). Just in case. 

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We put our faith in medicine, but we also trust in the art of natural healing embodied in our grandmothers’ home remedies. There is no scientific evidence that these remedies work. But, we tell our patients, if they provide comfort and do no harm, feel free to use them. We have been cured of mal de ojo, protected against bad energies through a limpia using an egg and prayers, and we have heard of someone who experienced a subida de muerto that was mysteriously resolved after the well-known cure of yelling curse words at the ‘entity.’

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We are here thanks to the ingenuity and persistence of Clinicas de Salud del Valle de Salinas. A consortium of 13 community health centers, CSVS is headquartered in Salinas, California — about 100 miles southeast of San Francisco. In the clinics where we work, it is not unusual to see a baby with onion wedges inside her socks to treat a fever, pregnant women wearing red ribbons around their bellies to prevent malformations in their babies, or postpartum women with their heads covered to avoid catching a draft — which some believe causes facial palsy. 

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We understand this culture. That’s why suggesting ginger tea for nausea during pregnancy, applying arnica for pain, using heat for menstrual cramps, or simply listening to their ideas are all part of our practice. This is how we build trust and empathy with our patients. 

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There’s a saying that is familiar to most doctors: Medicine is a science, but it is also an art. Our lives are a dance between the scientific knowledge that we brought with us from Mexico and the popular wisdom that we encounter here. We blend technology and tradition.

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When we arrived in the United States, a second education began. We used to think that there was only one kind of Mexican, one born and raised in Mexico. It was difficult for us to understand how other Mexicans, who were born and raised in a different country, could be so similar to us — and yet, at the same time, so different. These Mexican Americans spoke very little Spanish, or none at all. Yet they were fluent in our culture. They understood the power of la chancla, believed in mal de ojo, celebrated quinceañeras, couldn´t have a meal without tortillas and drank soda with bolillos to cure a susto. 

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Now, we finally understand the meaning behind the popular phrase: “Mexicans are born wherever we want.” 

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At the same time, Mexican culture is learned. It is passed down to younger generations through stories, music, food, and traditions. On this side of the border, life moves very quickly. The pressure to adapt to a new culture and language often causes traditions to fade. Children attend schools where English is the dominant language, and little by little Spanish is being left behind. It’s admirable that parents work so hard to give their children the best life possible. But in doing so, they often sacrifice time. They have no spare time to tell stories in Spanish and keep Mexico's traditions alive.

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Migration to the United States involves immense challenges. The stories we’ve heard from our patients are heartbreaking. Migrants face language barriers, cultural differences, exhausting work, separation from loved ones, and constant fear of deportation. Many flee violence, poverty, and lack of opportunity. While some succeed, most continue to struggle, holding onto hope that their sacrifices will eventually pay off.

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We came here to work in our chosen profession. Eventually, we had to face our own reality: we are also migrants searching for opportunity.  As migrant doctors, we understand that, despite our differences, we share a common experience with our patients. We know what it’s like to be visitors in a foreign land. It’s exciting and scary all at once.

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Still, never bet against migrants. Their lives are often hard. But they embody courage, resilience, hope, grit and grace. In any country, they’re not a burden. They’re a blessing. 

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Dr. Olga Padron, MD is a family physician affiliated with Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas. Dr. Georgina Centeno, MD is an obstetrician gynecologist affiliated with Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas.