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Several pictures of doctors who are featured on the Local Legends web site

MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Jessica Moreno, M.D.

Picture of Jessica Moreno

Jessica Moreno, M.D.

“It's the best feeling and a huge privilege to be there when a child comes into the world. It's just a great moment—you are present at the start of a family.”

NOMINATING CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Rep. Raul Grijalva

“TEACHER AND CLINICIAN SERVING THE UNDERPRIVILEGED”

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, Jessica Moreno immigrated with her family to the United States at an early age. In California, where the family settled, she witnessed the plight of the underprivileged in immigrant communities. She became the first in her family to attend college and later medical school, but never forgot the needy in the communities she grew up in.

While putting herself through the University of California at Irvine, she became active in the Chicano Medical Student Association and became a leader in research examining health care for undocumented immigrant populations. During this time, while also working as a Spanish language interpreter at University of California at Irvine, she decided to pursue a career in medicine and help bring healthcare to the needy.

After completing medical school, she entered an obstetrics and gynecology residency program at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, part of Stanford University, and then accepted a position as Attending Faculty in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Santa Clara Medical center in San Jose, California, which also included a joint appointment as Clinical Instructor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University.

Nominated as a Local Legend of Medicine by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-7), Jessica Moreno is now an Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and widely respected for her work in community outreach programs in Arizona, and for her efforts in training local healthcare providers in Latin America.

Working in rural Guatemala as well as Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, she has brought health care to the poor and underserved in those regions by helping to train and staff community health organizations.

She is also active in research on breast and cervical cancer screening along the U.S. and Mexico border as well as screening services for women in rural Yuma County, Arizona. Bilingual, and fluent in both written and spoken Spanish, she has been able to reach and teach within immigrant populations.

"We are very fortunate to have her teach here," said Francisco A.R. Garcia, M.D., a colleague of hers in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Arizona. “She has through her own effort and the force of her personality, pulled herself up from very humble beginnings to achieve remarkable things. She is truly an exemplary faculty member and an outstanding role model."

Jessica Moreno remains devoted to health education and teaching. "It's a great feeling teaching another generation," she commented. "My focus is on serving the underprivileged and one reason I love teaching is I can help my medical students understand the plight of the underserved.

"I've had wonderful opportunities and it's been great to serve others, but what I'd like most to be remembered for is just being a good mother. I have two children and they are really my greatest accomplishments."

MILESTONES

1997-2001

Appointed Clinical Instructor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

1997-2001

Appointed Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Valley Health Center, East Valley, San Jose, CA

1997-2001

Appointed Attending Faculty, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose

2001- present

Appointed Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, AZ

BORN

1962

MEDICAL SCHOOL

University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA

SPECIALTY

Obstetrics and Gynecology

LOCATION

Arizona