Dr. Josean Reyes Flores '25 on internal med residency at UPR

Dr. Josean Reyes Flores, a 2025 UMHS grad, recently started his internal medicine residency at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Originally from Moca in Puerto Rico, Dr. Reyes Flores was inspired to pursue medicine by his grandfather, who was an internal medicine physician. During his undergraduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, Dr. Reyes Flores played basketball and discovered a passion for helping people, which led him to choose internal medicine as his specialty.

In his brand-new residency, Dr. Reyes Flores aims to become a better person and a more competent physician, particularly in addressing rare and difficult clinical cases that are common in Puerto Rico. He is excited about the opportunities the program offers for case presentations, research, and exposure to a wide range of tropical and infectious diseases. Dr. Reyes Flores' decision to return to Puerto Rico for his residency was motivated by a desire to be close to his family and to help address the healthcare needs of the island, especially after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. As a UMHS graduate, Dr. Reyes Flores encourages current and prospective students to embrace the opportunity to adapt to different environments, learn continuously, and develop a strong desire to help people.

UMHS spoke to Dr. Flores a few days before graduation in New York on June 6, 2025, at Lincoln Center in New York City.

UMHS Endeavour: Tell us where you're originally from.

Dr. Josean Reyes Flores: I was born in a town called Moca here in Puerto Rico. My grandfather worked at that hospital. Right now, the ICU in that hospital has his name in honor of him. But I have lived all my life here in Camuy, Puerto Rico. It's a very quiet town compared to the capital, San Juan. Just love this part of the island. The beach is like five minutes from my house. So, it's a very quiet place. Very good to raise a family. I have everything here, so...

What part of the island is Moca in?

The northwest part of the island.

Did you always want to be a doctor? Also, what was your undergraduate in?

Just to give you a little bit of background, I played basketball my whole life since I was five to my four years in college. I think that's basically why I am who I am today, and it helped me every skill I learned during my basketball career, I applied to medicine. But I think I really discovered that I wanted to do medicine. I was in high school, and my grandfather was an internal medicine physician, so I had that background in my family.

My mother was his secretary, so it was a family kind of business. I was always in the office shadowing him, seeing patients with him. My little sister, when she was six years old, went to the hospital with him. She had this little scrub and everything. So, he was a very big figure in my life and our whole family. I think that when I was in high school was the time that specifically helped me figure out what I wanted to do. Then in college, I did my undergrad in biology just because I wasn't 100% sure that I wanted to pursue medicine. I wanted to have a bachelor's degree that helped... I can explore other options beyond pre-med, and I'm also thinking about what I'll do if I don't decide to become a doctor. But I'm happy with the outcome, though.

And was that the University of Puerto Rico where you did your undergrad?

Yes, but that was in a town called Mayagüez, which is in the western part of the island.

Great town, great college spirit. I think here in Puerto Rico, it's the only place that is similar to the environment of the States, fraternities and parties, college sports, and everything. Mayagüez is very similar to that.

Wow. Do they have an American football program?

That's the only thing they're missing. But from the basketball perspective, we get to play with SAA, Division II teams.

Dr. Josean Reyes Flores at the 2025 UMHS Graduation Ceremony in New York City. Photo: Andre Bolourian.

Internal medicine residency at UPR

Please tell us more about your upcoming internal medicine residency at the University of Puerto Rico.

Of course. So, the Medical Center of Puerto Rico in San Juan is the main hospital on the island right now. There, they have a lot of different residency programs, surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, a lot of programs, and a lot of fellowships. So, it's like the central hospital here on the island, the main place to train. I did a rotation there for internal medicine, and I just fell in love with the place. I think there's a lot of opportunity to grow, not just as a medical doctor but also as a person. The program director emphasized a lot that the people he wanted in the program had to be good people, and that was something that sticks with me. And I think that's something that should be done everywhere. It's not only about being a good physician, it's also about being a good person because you're treating people, right?

Absolutely.

I decided for internal medicine—just like I said before because the inspiration from my grandfather—I think internal medicine gives me the opportunity not to only see the patient in the hospital, walking to the ER, treating them, and then I have the opportunity to see them in the clinic, follow up. Maybe that will be my patient for life. You get that patient-physician relationship. I love that part. I talk a lot. I love to talk to people, love to get a relationship with people. I'm very friendly. I think internal medicine just gave me the opportunity to do that, but that's my job. I'm happy with the outcome.

Internal medicine vs. family medicine

Some people are confused about the difference between internal medicine and family medicine. Could you explain to us?

So internal medicine, you get to treat people, I think it's above 21. So, this population, all kinds of older populations. When you compare family medicine, you treat kids, children, and adults in the same way. So, at least here in Puerto Rico, family medicine practitioners usually have their own practices. They don't work a lot in the hospital per se. As internal medicine physicians, we stay in the hospital. Some of us will go into fellowships.

If you do family medicine, you cannot apply for, let's say, cardiology, neurology, or gastroenterology. You can do sports medicine, you can do pain management fellowships, but not those like cardiology.

I didn't know that.

And that's a big difference actually because a lot of people when they apply to internal medicine, are thinking about doing something else sub-specialty. In my case, I want to do cardiology, so hopefully it'll work out. But first, I'm going to get these three years, be the best internal medicine physician I can be. And then if it happens, it happens. But step-by-step.

Goals for residency

What are some of your goals for this upcoming residency? Just some of the goals that you'd like to achieve and the amount of time you're going to be doing it.

The program director of my program said to become a better person than I am today. From my first year to my third year. In my third year, I want to say I'm a better person than I was before. That's the first thing. Second thing, I want to be competent, capable of resolving difficult clinical scenarios. And I think that's a key specific thing that my program has is that every difficult or rare disease happening in Puerto Rico gets sent to the hospital where I'm going to be working.

So, I'm going to be exposed to a lot of different kinds of clinical scenarios. We have a lot of rare diseases here on the island.

Really?

Yes. And we got the opportunity to present at conferences in the States, here on the island, case presentations, case reports, and research. We got a lot of opportunities. And that program, specifically the one that I'm going to be in, it's full of it. So, I'm very excited about that part. One of my goals, like I said, be capable, be competent.

Dr. Josean Reyes Flores (far right) with fellow graduates at the 2025 UMHS Graduation Ceremony in NYC. Photo: Andre Bolourian.

Infectious and tropical diseases in Puerto Rico

I would imagine just being in Puerto Rico, you get a lot of exposure to some rare tropical illnesses or emerging infectious diseases that are not in the mainland US, or maybe just in the Caribbean. Do you have any kind of interest in tropical diseases and emerging infectious diseases, specifically in the region of the Caribbean?

I wouldn't say any specifics. I think dengue will be one. We see a lot of dengue cases here. I finished our rotation in infectious diseases last December, and in those four weeks, I saw 30, 35 cases of dengue in the hospital. So that was a great exposure for me. I think that's the most exciting because you only get to see it in the hospital, and here on the island it's very [common]... So, if I have to say one, it will be dengue.

Is Zika still a problem? I still see some public service announcements in New York in clinics and everything, but I know that that was a really big problem, especially in South America a few years ago, specifically for pregnant women. I think that's subsided a little bit, but that's still an issue. I'm just curious.

At least here in Puerto Rico, it's under control. We don't get too many cases. We still do have some cases around the island, but not too many, as let's say, five to 10 years ago.

Becoming a physician in Puerto Rico

Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about being a physician in Puerto Rico. And I know, as you've mentioned, we have a lot of graduates from Puerto Rico. And did you specifically want to return to Puerto Rico for residency? And if so, can you just explain a little bit why?

So yes, specifically yes. Two reasons. My family's here. I'm a very family-oriented guy, so I spent a lot of time away from home when I was in St. Kitts, then we went to Maine, then I went to Michigan and then I returned home and I just found that here, well, I was going to be happy and I remember talking to a resident friend of mine and he said, "You have to go to the place that makes you happy—that you're going to be happy."

And I didn't close my door to go to the States and do residency because I know how the process is, and if it was there, it was there. I actually applied to a lot of places in the States, specifically Michigan, because I was there doing rotations. I love the place, I love the people there too, but man, the ability to. If I have the weekend off, go and see my family, that's priceless. So, I think the number-one priority was to stay here for my family. And then the second one was because I was seeing a lot of friends of mine actually graduate from UMHS. I'm going to have a co-resident. Carlos Villanueva; he's going to be a senior this upcoming year. And he went to UMHS; he was doing great in residency.

Oh, Carlos Villanueva? I know him very well. He was actually one of our first media ambassadors at UMHS. He’s amazing.

He's a great guy. As a resident, he's great. He's really great. So, I got the chance to rotate in the same rotation as him. I saw him work; I saw how he was getting better at that program. So, it was just an easy decision after that.

Carlos was among the truly outstanding UMHS students from Puerto Rico, many of whom were very instrumental and motivated about helping with Hurricane Maria relief efforts a few years ago. They saw the need to stay in Puerto Rico as a doctor because a lot of doctors leave Puerto Rico to go to the mainland because there are more opportunities. But the people like Carlos want to stay in Puerto Rico on the island and help, especially after Maria, which was just such a horrible tragedy and such a public health crisis.

I agree with 100% what you're saying. That's the third part. I love working here. I love the people from Puerto Rico. I want to help. There's a health crisis right now with a lot of physicians just going to the mainland, and that's okay. I understand. We all understand, but I just decided to stay. I think here I can train; I can become the good physician that I'm going to be, and I want to help. 100% I want to help, even if it's less money at the beginning, it doesn't matter. Our people need a lot of physicians here.

I think a lot of people, once they go into medicine, realize, yes, you can have the potential to make a lot of money, but there are better reasons than just financial potential. You have to want to help people and be humanitarian, want to treat people, and help them get better. I think ultimately that should be every doctor's calling to be a doctor.

I agree. I think in medicine, there's money. The money is going to be there. You just have to work. I mean, you've got to work hard and work a lot. The money is going to be there, but it has to come from your heart. It has to come from that desire to just help people any way you can.

Advice for students from Puerto Rico

Do you have any advice for current or incoming students from Puerto Rico?

I think the first thing I want to say is you won't regret it. It's a great opportunity, like I said, to adapt to different environments, to different people, to different cultures. You get to grow so much during your four years at UMHS, not just going to class and getting to know your faculty, not just knowing your peers, but visiting different parts of the island, studying hard, and going to Maine. Then you go to clinical rotations at different hospitals around the US, here in Puerto Rico, for us. It's a great environment to study medicine.

There are a few distractions on the island. So, it's the perfect place to go and learn, work hard, and learn. And if I can just say a couple of words of advice, it will never stop. Your desire to learn has to be there 100% of the time. If you don't learn anything on a specific day, then you waste your time. You have to learn. And you have to be open to learn. And I think the key part of this world of medicine is the desire to learn. 

Email Dr. Josean Reyes Flores at joseanreyesmd@gmail.com

Top photo: Dr. Josean Reyes Flores.  Photo courtesy of Dr. Reyes Flores.