About Me

I was born in Sucre, a small city near the Andes mountain range in Bolivia. Though my family is entirely Belgian, I spent the majority of my childhood in Bolivia, which deeply shaped who I am and why I went into medicine. I came to the United States at the age of 13, and have stayed for education ever since.

I fluently speak English, Flemish (Dutch), and Spanish.

Below is an overview of my educational history.

Boston College (2010 - 2014)

  • B.A. Philosophy (Honors); Minor in Chemistry

  • Completed premedical coursework in addition to my philosophy studies

  • Honors thesis: The Ontology of Personhood in Medical Ethics

Columbia University (2014 - 2019)
College of Physicians and Surgeons

  • Doctor of Medicine (M.D.)

  • Completed one year in tissue engineering research at the Laboratory for Bioregenerative Medicine & Surgery. See my publication in Acta Biomaterialia (2019)

USC Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency
(2019 - Present)

  • ACGME-accredited 6-year plastic surgery residency

  • Completed the first 3 years (2019 - 2022), before taking two years off to complete a Global Surgery Fellowship and Masters degree (see below!)

  • Will graduate in 2027

Global Surgery Fellowship
Operation Smile (2022 - 2024)

  • Involved research and on-the-ground experience in global surgery operations

  • Worked closely with the Patient Health Record (PHR) and Policy & Advocacy departments

  • Helped deploy the new Patient Health Record in over 10 foundation countries

University of Oxford
Master of Studies, Practical Ethics (2022 - 2024)

  • Continuation of my formal education in philosophy

  • Completed concurrently with my Operation Smile work between 2022-2024

  • Dissertation — The Language of Value: Philosophical Assumptions in Disability Adjusted Life Years