Leticia Domínguez, from the classroom to the red zone

At 23, Leticia de la Caridad Domínguez Montañez has seen the face of death too many times, but this, far from discouraging her, has made it clear to her that she was right when she chose to study medicine.

A member of the vanguard movement Mario Muñoz Monroy, she made her decision when the province of Ciego de Avila showed Cuba’s worst COVID-19 numbers.

On July 12, after the last exam of her studies, she arrived at the intensive care unit of the Doctor Antonio Luaces Iraola Hospital, where she still works against the most terrible expressions of the SARS CoV-2 virus and tries to outwit the grim reaper.

Leticia still holds sad memories of this period, what with all the patients she saw die, including one uncle, despite the efforts of the medical teams, the reason that she never tires of highlighting the importance of early diagnoses to tackle the disease on time and the observance of the health protocols.

Although she recognizes that she has grown professionally, the young doctor feels shocked by the aggressiveness of this virus that kills people of any age.

One of the 85 graduates of the José Asef Yara University of Medical Sciences who deserved a Golden Degree, Dr. Dominguez is now dealing with her hardest challenge: excelling herself and bringing health to those who need it.

With that conviction she returned to the red zone to take care of her patients by facing her own fears, keeping her emotions at bay to properly intubate a person in cardiac arrest.

"It's the biggest challenge I've ever had, one I wish upon no one, because it's very sad and despairing," she says.

However, since she does not shy away from the commitment she made to study medical science, she puts on hold her dream of specializing in ophthalmology as she undertake every shift.

“More than a routing, observing the biosafety protocols and never neglecting the use of means of protection (pajamas, gown, coat, gloves, boots, mask, face shield and goggles) is essential to protect myself and my family, who always supports me,” she remarks. “And the ritual when I go home: washing my clothes separately from those of others and using the mask even to sleep to protect my mother, who is hypertensive, and my little niece.”

This young woman who knew how to overcome the existence of the pandemic to notch up successful results during her studies trusts that things will improve soon and make it possible for her to fulfill her dream of becoming a specialist.
In the meantime, even if they can barely see her face, the patients admitted to the ICU of her hospital will have in Leticia an ally and a tireless fighter bent on bringing them back to life.