“I had originally planned to move for a little while to work and then return, but here we are, working on the missions with the Mayo Clinic,” jokes the neurosurgeon Alfredo Quiñones Hinojosa, known internationally as Dr. Q. “What pushed me to leave Mexico was that I had dreams. It was my destiny to stay.”
Alfredo, a Mexicali, Baja California native, shares his story about his journey to Fresno, California, in his book Dr. Q, where he worked for two years as a cotton picker, painter and welder. “My role today is to provide people with hope through my work. I create bridges between countries,” he says.
In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL, Alfredo shared with us that he's currently “preoccupied with finding a study against cancer. I perform 300 operations per year; surgeries on people from around the world.” When asked if he were to accept an advisory role with the Mexican or U.S. government on public policy, he said “that doesn't interest me in the slightest. I think what I do now is what I was meant to do and this is the best way I can give people hope.”
Alfredo explained that when he decided to stay in the U.S., he realized that “life in this country isn't as easy as it may seem. We're led to believe in that false idea that moving here means you'll become rich, but I think the only way to amass wealth is through education, and I'm not talking about material wealth, what I mean is making a difference in the world and discovering new horizons, having a different mindset, something we don't understand in our country. In the U.S., people need to come here and think about how to get an education, and I think that's the advantage of this country.
- What is Dr. Q's dream now?
“My dream is that the day is going to come when Mexicans are going to see ourselves as people—humble and good people—but at the same time we're going to become successful here in the United States… and we're going to see in Mexico not only great economic growth, but also substantial advances in science and culture. And we're going to feel proud of who we are.”
With a smile on his face moments after leaving the surgery room, Dr. Q spoke with us on Skype, and while still wearing his surgical scrubs, he talked to us about how as a father of three, two daughters and a son, he always tries to teach them that “whatever you do, do it with passion and you will succeed. We need to take negative energy and turn it into positive energy. We need to tell our youth that the only way of succeeding in life is by studying.”
“I don't depend on Trump to do my job”
In response to the looming uncertainty over the numerous promises of mass deportation that President-elect Donald Trump made during the campaign and in recent weeks, the neurosurgeon says that “we're in a critical stage between the two countries that's going to affect future generation from both countries. In Mexico, people hear others say that immigrants are bad people, and in the U.S., people hear that we are people with no value, that they need to get rid of us. This is going to have a negative effect in 10 to 15 years.”
“The so-called wall isn't going to accomplish anything because as long as people have dreams, they'll just jump over it, go under it. They'll do whatever it takes. The country has been changing, and anti-immigrant sentiments aren't going to change just with words, but instead through our actions and succeeding professionally, and becoming more culturally rich.”
Alfredo acknowledges that “I've become incredibly cynical about politicians over the last decade, in our country, and all over the world. The vast majority of politicians, unfortunately, have only served their own interests.
“I don't support Trump's ideas, but I do support the democratic system and he was elected as the next president of the United States. I don't depend on him to do my profession or accomplish my dreams.”
Among his official professions, Alfredo is an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Associate Professor of Oncology, and the John Hopkin Bayview Medical Center's Head of Brain and Pituitary Tumor Surgery.