Dr. Maria Carriedo-Ceniceros encourages young people to put their heart and soul into whatever they want to do and never give up.<\/p>\n
Her advice is not surprising. After all, that was her own path to success.<\/p>\n
Born in 1961 and raised in the South Bay, she was the youngest of six children. Her dad was a truck driver, and mom worked in a dry-cleaning shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had limited resources, and it was tough,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we never went without basics.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family was very close. My parents were incredible, wonderful hard-working people. We had a small home, but it was not unusual to take in nieces and nephews who needed help. We were raised to give to others and don\u2019t expect anything in return. Give from the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither parent attended college, but they emphasized the importance of education.<\/p>\n
Carriedo-Ceniceros took that to heart and graduated valedictorian in 1979 from Sweetwater High School.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did well because I was determined,\u201d she explained. \u201cIf I put my mind to something, I\u2019m going to accomplish it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Encouraged by her oldest brother, she applied to every Ivy League college and was accepted by all of them.<\/p>\n
She attended Harvard under a full scholarship, although her family was expected to contribute $5,000 annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew my parents didn\u2019t have the money,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, I had the bills sent to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carriedo-Ceniceros worked 40 to 60 hours a week as a waitress and cleaning houses to cover the costs, yet maintained a B average.<\/p>\n
After graduating from Harvard in 1983 with a bachelor\u2019s in economics, she worked in computer technology for 10 years, first as a programmer and then manager.<\/p>\n
However, in 1993 she was so inspired by the compassionate care her father received during a serious illness that she decided to become a physician.<\/p>\n
It would be a long road for Carriedo-Ceniceros, 32 and a single mom to a 2-year-old. She went to live with her mom in Chula Vista and enrolled in pre-med courses at UC San Diego while working part time. Three years later she enrolled in UCSD\u2019s medical school.<\/p>\n
Returning to school after 10 years was challenging and, at times, she doubted herself. But she was determined.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a quitter. It was hard, it was tough, but I was prepared for that by years of working nights and weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2000, at age 39, she graduated medical school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very emotional,\u201d Carriedo-Ceniceros said of her graduation. \u201cMy mom and I both cried.\u201d<\/p>\n
After three-year residency training, she was hired by San Ysidro Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I started, San Ysidro Health had only three sites, and they were from communities where I was raised,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a natural fit. I felt comfortable from day one. I had similar lived experiences as my patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Ysidro Health is a federally qualified health nonprofit serving otherwise underserved areas. \u201cIt\u2019s a safety net,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t turn any patients away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carriedo-Ceniceros acknowledges she could have earned more money elsewhere. Serving patients from her communities, however, \u201ckept the joy of medicine in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2004, she did accept a higher paying position, but returned to San Ysidro Health eight months later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized this was my place,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is where I belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Carriedo-Ceniceros, 65, and her husband, Pablo, live in Bonita. She is in her 23rd year at San Ysidro Health and 14th year as its chief medical officer.<\/p>\n
She oversees more than 500 health professionals in medical, dental and behavioral health. Her achievements include San Ysidro Health\u2019s expansion countywide, creation of an internal residency program and her presidency of Champions for Health Foundation, which supports a network of volunteer health professionals.<\/p>\n
She said it\u2019s an honor to know she can affect other people as a role model, adding \u201cit is important for children to see an individual who has similar lived experiences make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In June, 2026, her leadership in the medical profession was recognized when she became the first Latina president in San Diego County Medical Society\u2019s 156-year history.<\/p>\n
About this series<\/p>\n
Goldsmith is a Union-Tribune contributing columnist.<\/p>\n
We welcome reader suggestions of people who have done something extraordinary or otherwise educational, inspiring or interesting and who have not received much previous media. Please send suggestions to Jan Goldsmith at\u00a0jgsandiego@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Maria Carriedo-Ceniceros encourages young people to put their heart and soul into whatever they want to do…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,23,100,592,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-418647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-people","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}