Augusto Dias, M.D, is an emergency medicine physician. He has worked at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth for over seven years.
Dias was born in Peru, where his family is from. His family moved to North America when he was young. “For six years, we lived in Toronto, Canada, and it was quite interesting. Besides the long and brutally cold winters, compared to Lima, Toronto is very eclectic, somewhat like Canada’s New York City,” he said while interviewing with Texas Health. “While living in Toronto, I befriended people from various parts of the world, even learning about their diverse cultures. Learning two languages, French and English was challenging, but I appreciate my entire Canadian experience. When I was 14 years old, I moved to the U.S. with my family.”
This move from Canada to the U.S. did have a drawback. Dr. Dias explains, “I used to be multilingual, speaking Spanish, French, and English. Unfortunately, when I moved to the U.S. with my parents, I pretty much lost all knowledge of the French language.”
Dias was inspired to work in medicine after his father developed cancer. Before this, he was interested in biology. He recalled, “I wanted to be a biologist in my early years, but instead, I chose medicine in high school after my father became ill with cancer. During college, I began scribing at Texas Health Fort Worth, and that experience solidified my career choice, becoming an emergency medicine physician.”
The recent pandemic has made practicing emergency medicine a challenge. Dias said he had a lot of knowledge of other pandemics of the past, but it did not prepare him to go through one himself. Of this experience, he said, “It’s important to be a compassionate and empathetic physician, especially when helping people with few resources. These individuals are the most vulnerable of our communities, and they need all the help we can give them. One’s life can quickly change during times of great stress and fear, and as a community, we have to stick together and fight through it.”
During his interview, he was asked, “What do you do outside of work?”
Dr. Dias responded, “Outside of work, I enjoy cycling and photography, and of course, spending time with my wife and daughter.”
Texas Health also asked him, “How do you honor your heritage, and what do you hope resonates with others during National Hispanic Heritage Month?”
“I still speak Spanish with my parents and at home with my family, and I think it’s a great way to honor my heritage and culture. Being bilingual has also helped me tremendously at work because Texas has a large Hispanic community. It is always important to remember where your family is from and to connect to your roots,” Dias said.