To be a health care provider is to answer a calling. For some, the journey to health care is a straight line; for others, the road is winding. This series features stories from ECU Health team members who took the winding road, but found the destination to be worth the effort.
Dr. Roberto Portela, the chief of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division of the department of emergency medicine at ECU Health Medical Center and associate professor at East Carolina University in the department of emergency medicine, grew up in Puerto Rico. Originally, he aspired to be a veterinarian. “As a kid, you think about what you’d like to do, and taking care of animal sounded like a good fit for me,” he said. “I love animals.” But when he joined the military in 1994 and received training as a combat medic, he discovered he loved acute care. “Trauma care – those first minutes or hour of patient care – attracted me.”
Dr. Portela said his work in the military was instrumental in not only finding his path to emergency medicine, but also in how he carries himself as a physician. “The military teaches respect, and as a physician, you need to be respectful to your patients and colleagues,” he shared. “Everybody has a mission and a role, and you don’t always know what’s going on in your patient’s world, so just be respectful.”
After his military service, Dr. Portela attended the University of Puerto Rico to receive his MD and specialized in emergency medicine at the University of Puerto Rico Hospital in Carolina. He ended up staying there for nine years teaching residents how to be emergency medicine physicians. “Then in 2013, I moved to the United States and started as a faculty member at ECU,” he said. “The main thing that brought me here was the desire to expand on my specialty in EMS. In Puerto Rico, I worked in my home program as an attending, I worked with the state EMS system as their online medical control, I helped as a medical director and served as a volunteer in our rescue squad in Puerto Rico. Thank God, ECU gave me that opportunity. I came here, and the doors opened for me.”
Those open doors led to the chance to serve as the EMS medical director for Pitt County, the chief of the EMS Division of the Department of Emergency Medicine, the program director for the EMS Fellowship, a member of the state EMS disciplinary committee and the president for the NC Chapter of the National Association of EMS Physicians. “It was incredible for me; because of my being here and the people in leadership who supported me, I’ve had these opportunities,” he said.
Dr. Portela also spoke about his team and the difference they make every day. “I think all emergency medicine physicians are cut from the same cloth, because they could have picked any specialty, but they chose one that provides care 24/7, 365 days a year,” he said. “The dedication they display every day is amazing – they are resilient.”
There’s also a big difference between his work with ECU Health and his work in Puerto Rico – namely, his access to resources and in-house, high-quality care. “I used to work in a small hospital where I had to transfer patients all the time to get better care; what ECU Health can offer as a system of care with a level one trauma center with multiple specialties – there’s not a lot we can’t do here,” he said.
To those considering a career in health care, Dr. Portela said don’t hesitate. “Ignore the static or what you might hear. At the end of the day, you must remember why we do health care – because somebody needs help. It’s that simple.” He also emphasized that there are many roles and opportunities for those considering a health care career. “From our care partners to all our nurses, to our physicians and tech, orderlies and lab technicians, everybody has a role and it’s a system. There are multiple jobs out there and so many opportunities to make a difference – if you’re thinking about it, just jump in.”
