Dr. Claudia Valderrama graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995. She worked in a mixed animal practice for 7 years before starting Veterinary Relief Services.  Dr. Valderrama hails from Cali, Colombia, speaks English and Spanish, and enjoys the challenges of working in many different practices settings. In her free time, Claudia loves to scuba dive, travel on adventures, and do yoga.

Hermes Florez, MD, Ph.D., MPH is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Public Health Sciences. Dr. Florez served as Professor of Public Health Sciences and Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Director of the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the Miami Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System. He is a public health physician-scientist trained in internal medicine, endocrinology, and geriatrics, as well as in epidemiology and public health. He graduated summa cum laude at the University of Zulia School of Medicine in Venezuela.

Romualdo Segurola, MD, FACS, is triple board-certified in general surgery, trauma/critical care surgery, and thoracic surgery. He specializes in cardiac and thoracic surgery with expertise in coronary artery bypass surgery, thoracoscopy-assisted surgery for atrial fibrillation, aortic root reconstruction, minimally invasive valve surgery, and treatment options for end-stage heart disease.

In addition to his full-time clinical practice, Dr. Segurola dedicates time to research, participating in leading-edge clinical trials of pharmaceuticals and devices. His articles have been published in prestigious medical journals, and he has contributed book chapters to different published works.

Throughout his career, Dr. Eftekhari pursued various medical volunteer mission trips in Guatemala and Peru. One of his personal hobbies is to being involved in international medical volunteer efforts, which has helped him to gain an appreciation of cultural diversity while caring for his personal patients here in the United States.

He was honored as a Johnson & Johnson International Scholar, and lived abroad for three months in Uganda Africa focusing on HIV research and Kidney Disease, which led to a research publication in Africa. In his spare time, he enjoys outdoor recreational sports, international traveling, spending time with family and friends and listening to music.

Tracy is the Residency Program Coordinator/Senior Administrative Support for the University of Miami & Jackson Memorial Hospital, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Residency Program; perform oversight for residency candidate on-boarding and continuing education processes. Experienced in the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and Graduate Medical Education (GME) compliance requirements. Engaged in maintaining the data management system used hospital-wide. Administrative support to Program Director and several faculty members. Provide senior administrative office support for several Anatomic Pathology doctors. Program Coordinator of the Pathology Department Residency and Fellowship Programs (21 residents and 13 fellows (in 9 fellowship programs) in Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine, Breast/GYN, Cytopathology, GI/Liver-pancreas, GU, Head & Neck, Hematopathology, Molecular Genetic Pathology, and Pediatric Pathology). Responsible for all Grand Rounds activities for CME credits. Assign and distribute monthly faculty and residents evaluations in New Innovations; semi-annual duty hour review and 360 reviews.

Dr. Juan Carlos Murillo is one of the Internal Medicine chief residents at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida. He attended the University of Los Andes in Venezuela, where he graduated cum laude with honors in Medicine. He completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in Cornea and Immunology at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, followed by residency training in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida. Dr. Murillo has served as chief of the quality improvement committee and is a key member of the residency educational experience committee.
Dr. Murillo’s passion for ambulatory medicine lead him to his current academic position as Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Florida International University, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. He works consistently on the instruction of clinical reasoning and the incorporation of high value care into residency education. He leads by the example and serves as mentor to residents and students with the goal of training a new generation of physicians that are committed to providing excellent care with a humanistic component. One of his major contributions was the development of an innovative academic curriculum that has translated into better residency performance and superior patient care.

Dr. Villacorta completed her training in June 2018 and will be moving on to practice outpatient internal medicine with Baptist Health on Miami Beach. Her passion lies in preventing and treating disease all while providing education to her patients and working collaboratively with them toward better health and awareness regarding preventable diseases and healthy lifestyles. This year she completed original research regarding medication risk factors in hospital acquired clostridium difficile infections. She participates in training of future physicians during her rotations at Broward as well as volunteer opportunities such as clinical skills competency at FIU and medical mission trips to various countries.

Dr. Rushing currently serves as the only appointed resident liaison in the country for two national society committees, as well as the chair for the FPMA’s Broward county resident committee. Alongside his mentor Dr. Steven Spinner, he recently co-founded the Foot and Ankle Research Foundation of South Florida, a non-profit organization where he currently serves as the assistant medical director, and director of research. In the past 10 months, Dr. Rushing has been awarded 3 investigator initiated research grants from orthopedic companies to investigate ankle arthritis, had 8 manuscripts accepted for journal publication, and submitted a patent. Under his leadership, the Westside Regional Medical Center podiatry program now leads all others in the state; both in the number of research grants/awards, and journal publications.

Currently Dr. Vega serves as chief resident at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital Psychiatry residency training program. Recently she was invited by the American Psychiatric Nurses Association to give a presentation, along with a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about our work in the human trafficking clinic or THRIVE (Trafficking Healthcare Resources and Intra-disciplinary Victim Services and Education). She recently returned from two conferences – the National Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics & Gynecology and the annual American Psychiatric Association, where she presented her meta-analysis on antidepressant use during pregnancy. Dr. Vega received recognition for her work at both conferences- the Steiner Young Investigator Award and Area Five Resident Fellow Member Poster Award Winner, respectively. In June she moved to Philadelphia to begin a Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.