The path to the emergency room was not a direct one for Dr. Sandra Medinilla.

Mauricio Muñoz thought he had his life perfectly scripted out. He just didn’t realize it was only the first draft.

Written by Michael O'Neill

Ramon Diaz and his younger brother grew up in Long Beach,California, but they were born in their parents’ hometown of Jalisco, Mexico. Though both parents had been in the U.S. since the early 1970s, they made frequent trips south of the border, including for the birth of their sons. But they knew they couldn’t stay there, if they wanted a better life for them. It was a land where most people were farmers and had no options for lifting themselves out of poverty.

By his junior year in high school, Xavier Shackelford was a good student with a vague idea that he wanted to be a doctor. But few people from his small, rural Arkansas town considered medicine as a possible career.

Dr. Diana Ramos always wanted to be a doctor from as far back as she can remember. The dream was so strong that she found a way to make it real, even after a detour that came about after some discouraging words – a lesson learned about seeking out the right mentors.