Our Graduates

Howdy! My name is Mariel Bagley, and I am so excited to be here at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency Program.  I was born and raised in San Marcos, just north of San Antonio. I grew up with two younger sisters and incredibly supportive parents. I am excited to be so close to home for residency. I married my high school sweetheart, Blake, during my fourth year of medical school. We love spending time with our families, exploring San Antonio, and spoiling our black Labrador puppy, Bailey.

I went to Texas A&M University for undergraduate, and studied Biomedical Science. I loved Aggieland so much, I went to A&M for medical school as well. In medical school, I enjoyed every one of my clinical rotations. With each rotation, I changed my mind about what specialty I wanted to pursue. I was always certain that I wanted to be in a specialty with strong patient relationships and continuity of care. Family Medicine was a natural decision, as I was able to care for patients of all ages, create lasting relationships with patients, and practice preventative medicine with an emphasis on wellness. I hope to practice full-scope family medicine in Central Texas when I graduate.

CHRISTUS Santa Rosa is an excellent Family Medicine program, and I am so glad to be training here. There is a diverse patient population with opportunities to care for a wide range of illnesses. The program is rigorous and I am challenged to grow daily.  The faculty and staff foster an environment of support and encouragement. This is truly an incredible program, and the best place to train in full-spectrum Family Medicine!

Hello! I was born in Colorado, which is how I got my name (the state flower of Colorado). My parents moved us to Texas when I was a toddler. I grew up in Sugar Land, Texas. After high school, I decided I wanted to see what life was like outside of Texas and attended the University of Notre Dame for my undergrad (Go Irish!). I then moved to Kansas City, Missouri for the next chapter of my life. I completed my medical training at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine, where I fell in love with Family Medicine.

I eventually got homesick and decided to come back to Texas for residency. I discovered the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Family Medicine program through the AAFP National Conference. Talking with the residents and hanging out with them afterwards at dinner showed me how welcoming the program was. I felt extremely at home with the residents and already felt like I was part of the family. In addition, I was looking for an unopposed residency program that that would train me well in both inpatient and outpatient disciplines, with a focus on caring for a diverse population.

I found all of this and more at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa! I am so excited to be a part of the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Family! In my free time, I love to cook and try new foods. San Antonio has a vibrant food scene, and I am so excited to explore it!

Hello and welcome to the CHRISTUS website! I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, grew up in Towson, Maryland, and first arrived in Texas to start my undergraduate years at Rice University. I studied Bioengineering, but became more passionate about primary care medicine while working with a group of physicians in China called LIGHT at the end of my junior year. After graduating from Rice, I worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center researching skin cancer progression and targeted therapies. Afterwards, I attended medical school at Texas A&M Health Science Center.

I got plugged into Family Medicine early on and after going through all of my third year rotations and realizing that I enjoyed every one, Family Medicine was my last rotation. I just knew that it was still the perfect fit. When I matched into Christus Santa Rosa, I was overjoyed because I knew that I would be getting not only strong full-scope family medicine opportunities while training here, but also would be learning in a supportive atmosphere with awesome people. The spirit of kindness and friendship within this program, the passion for service, and the strong OB curriculum really stood out to me during my interview. After graduating, right before starting residency, I married my best friend and college sweetheart Jafet and we moved down to San Antonio.

We enjoy traveling, outdoor activities, listening to podcasts, trying new restaurants, HEB shopping, and recreating healthier versions of foods we love. San Antonio has been such a blessing to our hobbies and I would highly recommend living here.

Hello, my name is Brian and thanks for visiting our website!

I grew up Commerce, a small town in Northeast Texas. I attended college at Texas A&M University (Whoop!). During my time there, I met my wonderful wife, Mary. We married a couple years after graduation and now have two awesome children, Elijah and Lilianna. We are so happy to be in San Antonio. It is a great place to raise a family with a great variety of restaurants and things to do in the city and close proximity to the beautiful Texas Hill Country.

I took a non-traditional path to Medicine, as I am the first physician in my family and had never thought about becoming a doctor until after I graduated from college. I was working as a case worker in Corpus Christi when I became inspired to return to school to pursue a medical degree. I wanted to make a significant lasting difference in the communities I worked in and decided becoming a family physician was the best way for me to do so.

I went to medical school at UT Health-San Antonio and was thrilled to have the opportunity to stay in San Antonio and train at Christus Santa Rosa. I rotated here as a fourth-year medical student, so I already knew the quality training and learning opportunities I would experience. Even more importantly, I saw the friendly, supportive, and family-like atmosphere among the faculty and residents here. Our program has a great balance of top notch inpatient and outpatient training. No matter what aspect of Family Medicine you want to focus on, there is an opportunity to thrive with us here at Christus Santa Rosa.

Hello and welcome! I was born in Egypt, but raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. I ventured further south to attend the University of Texas-Pan American, and received my undergraduate degree in Biology and Psychology. I attended medical school in Houston. When it came time to interview for Family Medicine programs, I was looking for a program that was close-knit, encouraged hard work with emphasis on compassion, and had the true broad-spectrum range of training that would prepare me to practice in any setting after residency. At the interview here, I found exactly that! The large number of faculty and residents with diverse backgrounds and interests, in combination with a supportive, positive environment where I felt like I could get to know everyone and grow personally and professionally is what confirmed that this program was the best fit for me. I knew I would be afforded the flexibility and encouragement to pursue all my interests in Family Medicine and the tools to become a well-rounded and full-spectrum family physician.

San Antonio is an amazing place to live, with a vibrant culture and beautiful hill country. Outside of medicine, I like to spend time with my family and friends, keep up with soccer, and explore San Antonio and the surrounding areas. Looking forward to having you here!

Hi my name is Luz! I was born and raised in Laredo, Texas and I am the oldest of 5 in my family. I went to undergrad at Texas A&M International University in my hometown and majored in Biology like most pre-med students. I was fortunate to be accepted into the Joint Admission Medical Program during undergrad. Through this program I did two pre-med summer internships in Texas. Afterwards, I went to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and it was there that I found my love for Family Medicine. Living in the Texas Panhandle for 4 years (Lubbock and Amarillo), I was surrounded by a medically underserved population that motivated me to pursue this field of practice so that I may be trained to see those of all ages.

My interests in medicine include Child and Adolescent health as well as Global Health. I believe that the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa program is the right fit for me because you are trained to become a competent full-spectrum family physician. I chose this program because I wanted to train in an unopposed environment where I could take advantage of every learning opportunity as it presented itself. In the future, I hope to pursue academic medicine but only time will tell.

My main priorities in life are my faith and my family. In my free time, I love to spend time with my family and friends. My favorite show is Parks and Rec but I also enjoy watching action movies, reading, exercising, and dancing salsa or bachata. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to pursue this career every day.

Hello! My name is Dominick Ruiz and I was born and raised in the El Paso area. I’m the second youngest in my family, with two older brothers and one little sister. I grew up in a little town on the outskirts of El Paso called Canutillo, where I was very active in sports and played basketball, track, and cross country. Though I’m not as physically active now, I enjoy running in my free time but spend considerably more time eating and trying new restaurants with my fiancée. We love animals and have two cats and two guinea pigs!

My interest in medicine first began in high school, where I was able to take health science technology classes that exposed me to various fields of medicine. I attended undergrad at The University of Texas at Austin where I majored in Social Work. At the time, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in primary care, and felt that a background in social work would provide me with the framework to better understand the obstacles and limitations patients face outside of the clinical setting. I completed my medical training at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. During this time, I solidified my choice of Family Medicine. Like many people who choose this specialty, I found myself attracted to both the continuity of care that’s integral to this specialty, as well as the broad and diverse training it provides.

There were a lot of factors that influenced me choosing Christus Santa Rosa over any other program. Principal among these was the balance that the program strikes in providing rigorous, well-rounded training in an “unopposed” environment while still maintaining a caring and supportive environment for its residents. I wanted to train at a place where I could be the best family physician possible, while having faculty and co-residents who cared about my well-being. Needless to say, I feel very lucky to be at a program that provides both! I’m very excited to be a part of the family here at Christus Santa Rosa, and hope you consider joining our family as well!

Hello my is Melissa Saucedo Solis I was born in a small town in northern Mexico where I spent most of my childhood surrounded by hills, nature, and farm animals. I later moved to the border town of Laredo, Texas, where I attended Texas A&M International University and majored in Biology. While in undergrad, I was accepted into the Joint Admission Medical Program which gave me the opportunity to learn more about the art of medicine each summer.

I completed my medical studies at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock and Amarillo. It was there that my love for Family Medicine grew. Seeing anyone in clinic from newborn to geriatric patients allowed me to truly understand the magnitude of people I could help as a family physician. Furthermore, volunteering at blood pressure barbershops where we literally went to low income areas and checked customers for elevated blood pressures, I realized I wanted a profession where I can not only treat a disease but I am also able to educate and bond with a patient. I knew CHRISTUS Santa Rosa was a great fit for me because they not only train you to be a broad-scope physician but they do so while practicing the values of dignity and compassion.

During my free time, I like to spend time with family, boyfriend, friends, and my dog Luna. I enjoy learning new types of dances from Country to Latin, as well as gardening, walking outdoors, and reading.

Hello! I was born and raised in Dallas, TX with my wonderful parents and younger brother. Needing to get out of Texas for a while, I moved to Colorado for undergrad at the University of Denver, where I studied biology and psychology. During my time there, I was able to spend 2 summers in Uganda, where I saw firsthand what true "full-spectrum medicine" as well as public health looked like in practice.

As I was interviewing for medical schools, I found my home here in San Antonio at UTHSCSA. In every rotation, I kept coming back to the impact that a full-spectrum family physician can have on their patients. A desire for continuity of care and an admiration for those residents and faculty I worked with in family medicine ultimately drove my decision to pursue this career. I also participated in the dual degree program, earning my MPH alongside my MD. I hope to be able to use my public health training both in my clinic as well as on medical mission trips in the future.

In my free time, I can be found with my boyfriend Daniel (an EM resident at SAMMC) and my 2 dogs, Rocky and Ellie. We enjoy anything that allows us to be outdoors - from going to the dog park to trail runs to hiking in the local state parks. We also love to explore the food scene that San Antonio has to offer and even try cooking new recipes together on the days we are both at home. We have lived in this city for over 5 years but continue to find new fun things to do!

In my time as part of the Christus Santa Rosa family, I have continuously been amazed at the support from the community (residents, faculty, and staff alike) as well as the quality and spectrum of training I am receiving. While I don't know exactly what setting I will be practicing in the immediate time after residency due to my boyfriend's military commitment, my ultimate goal is to be a private-practice physician with OB privileges at a local hospital. I am confident that the training I am receiving will prepare me for any situation that comes my way. We hope to see you soon!!