Mexican lieutenant to study aerospace medicine in King’s College

Lieutenant of the Navy Medical Service of the Navy Ministry (Semar), Adriana Ortiz Trujillo is convinced that through education and knowledge, women can keep earning spaces to compete at the same level with everyone.

With 27 years of age, she is the first navy surgeon that will study a Master’s degree in Aerospace Medicine in the prestigious King’s College in London, United Kingdom, starting next September.

With effort, commitment, and passion for medicine, the Lieutenant obtained the Chevening scholarship that is granted by the United Kingdom to leaders and future decision-makers of the world to study postgraduate courses in different areas such as sciences, medicine, economy, and communication.

Ortiz Trujillo, originally from Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, is one of the 50 Mexicans who won the scholarship by the British government, among the over 50,000 who competed for the grant.

In addition, Mexico’s Education Ministry (SEP) granted another scholarship to the military doctor.

“It is an honor as a Mexican, firstly. It is an honor, too, as part of the military, and , well, as a woman, we have always had a clear and evident way of being able to continue winning spaces, through knowledge and education, and to be able to compete at the same level as everyone, because the Navy teaches us the values of honor, duty, loyalty, and patriotism; all this makes you love and contribute to your country, and it is better with knowledge,” expressed Ortiz Trujillo in an interview with EL UNIVERSAL.

With visible emotion, the Lieutenant highlights that this is the first year that there are more Mexican women than men who won the scholarship granted to Mexico and that celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2019.

“It is the first year that this event is given and with a great commitment because in Mexico we are only two doctors who won the scholarship. There is not a limit per se, they are just scholarships to the most outstanding, but from the area of medicine, we are only two grant holders,” comment the Armed Navy Lieutenant.

Postgraduate course

Wearing her military uniform, Adriana Ortiz explains the Aerospace Medicine is an area focused on the health of pilots so that they can perform their job in optimal conditions.

Once she finishes the Master’s degree, which will last for a year, the Lieutenant plans to work in rigorous selection criteria and protocols for future pilots of Mexico’s Army.

“Since it is a different environment, we have to select qualified personnel to adjust to these changes progressively without them losing their medical condition.

“Likewise, once any pilot has a pathology, because they are monitored, [it is necessary] to timely diagnose the best treatment, the most efficient, to be able to restore [their health] a 100% in the least amount of time possible so that they continue with their flight missions,” she says.

She says that her cornerstones to be interested in Aerospace Medicine were the Navy Medical School, which is the only one in Mexico that has the subject of Aerospace Medicine, and a program on tactical medicine that she attended in Fort Benning, in the United States.

“The second part is that in the Navy Medical School we have the opportunity to develop research projects and review articles. I had the chance to publish one with Dr. Rául Carrillo; he is the founder of the Mexican Association of Space Medicine in Mexico, it’s was an amazing opportunity,” she asserts.

For Lieutenant Adriana Ortiz there are any opportunities in Aerospace Medicine, so she invited young Mexicans to explore this branch. “It is very wide, it is very diverse and there is a lot to do in this area,” she said.

“[There are] a lot of work opportunities, not only in the military sector but also in the civil sector. There is a lot of potential; it is just a matter of looking for the opportunities and earning them, but they exist in the country; one must pay attention to the calls and the requirements,” she refers.

In her nine years as a navy surgeon, Ortiz Trujillo has been a university professor in the Navy Medical School, where she taught the subject of Tactical Medicine and was in Puerto Progreso, Yucatán, providing attention in search and rescue operations.

mp