There’s no such thing as a normal day at work for Jesus Iñiguez. The 2011 CWU alumnus is a family doctor with surgical obstetrics training, and he currently serves as the medical director of the Seamar Community Health Clinic in Des Moines.
His services are in high demand, but he always finds time to provide the best quality care for his patients.
“I divide my time into four main areas every week,” Iñiguez said. “Providing primary care in an outpatient setting, teaching residents at the Swedish Family Medicine Residency, inpatient obstetrics care, and completing administrative duties.”
His ability to provide equal attention to every patient under his care comes back to his childhood. He had regular opportunities to observe the medical system up close because his father was in and out of clinics due to a metabolic syndrome.
By watching the professionals who cared for his father, Iñiguez learned how to properly care for people. He now brings that experience and compassion to his work.
“While practicing, I try to treat my patients with the care, attention, and accountability my father needs,” he said, adding that his mother was a natural healer in their community, which also provided him with a valuable perspective.
As the child of Mexican-American migrant farm workers, going to college was no guarantee for Iñiguez. As a result, he now looks back on how much he appreciated the financial support he needed to pursue a degree. While in high school, his sister helped him apply for the Gates Millennium Scholarship, and that opened many doors for him once he arrived at Central.
“Because of this scholarship, I was able to take opportunities during my time at CWU that supplemented my experiences in invaluable ways,” he said.
“The investment in time and energy you make in your community or network establishes priceless bonds that raise the quality of life for you and those around you.”
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Throughout his time in Ellensburg, Iñiguez focused on making connections—something that had challenged him at his previous institution. Halfway through his undergraduate training, he transferred to CWU in search of more accessible mentorship and guidance, and he quickly found both.
Aside from serving as president of the CWU Pre-Medicine Club, he volunteered at the community health clinic, did undergraduate research in the biology department, and was accepted into the Science Honors Research Program and McNair Scholars program.
CWU showed Iñiguez how important the health sciences field is, and he used those lessons to earn a Doctor of Medicine degree from Dartmouth and carve out a successful career in medicine.
“My hope is that more of us will understand the immense benefit our lives have experienced from science, especially in Western cultures,” he said. “And that is due to the proper human application of science to health.”
Above all, Iñiguez emphasized the importance of giving back to the community. Yet another way he gives back is through the first CWU educational endowment that focuses on the potential to support Hispanic student-athletes. He and his brothers plan to provide a minimum of one full-tuition scholarship to underserved students every year.
“The investment in time and energy you make in your community or network establishes priceless bonds that raise the quality of life for you and those around you,” he said.
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