Las Vegas City Wire

A medical student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is about to finish his residency at the age of 47.

According to a news release shared by the university, Dr. Anthony Desoasido began medical school when he was 40, graduated within four years and is about to wrap up his residency at UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine.

When he was a teenager, Desoasido was diagnosed with dengue fever from the bite of an Aedes aegypti mosquito.

“In the Philippines, it rains a lot and the drainage system was not well managed at that time, so mosquitoes were breeding like crazy,” he said in the release. “Where I lived was turned into a battleground between man and virus.”

For much of his residency, Desoasido has had to care for patients who had a different virus, COVID-19, but it was dealing with dengue fever as a teenager that made him want to become a doctor.

According to Desoasido: “Little was known about the virus back then, but Dr. Ami was intent on defeating it using his medical knowledge and clinical skills. He spent day and night examining us, going through lab results, writing orders for fluids or blood products, interacting with nurses and family members, and continuously making adjustments to our care."

Desoasido added that he would never forget how the Spanish doctor made him feel at a time of uncertainty and tried to convey that same message of hope for COVID-19 patients during his residency.  

"As we bled from almost every orifice in our body in that makeshift hospital ward, Dr. Ami would comfort us with his presence and encouraging words. He never made any promises, but you could tell from his eyes he was going to give his all to keep us alive,” said Desoasido. “At the end of the epidemic, lives were unfortunately lost in my town, but none of those were from the multipurpose building under Dr. Ami’s care.”