Meet Julia Cazabon: First to Attend Medical School for Free on the 海角社区 Health New Orleans Beer Scholarship
October 15, 2024
Julia Cazabon (second from left) was raised by parents Pedro and Tiffany Cazabon (right) alongside two brothers, Jack (left) and George (second from right). Her younger brother George is majoring in biology at 海角社区 in Baton Rouge hoping to follow in his dad鈥檚鈥攁nd now also his sister鈥檚鈥攆ootsteps to be a medical doctor. He plans on applying to medical school at 海角社区 Health New Orleans in 2027.
Julia Cazabon, a medical student at 海角社区 Health New Orleans from River Ridge, Louisiana, is the first to receive full support through the Marcia and Billy Beer Endowed Scholarship Fund to attend all four years of medical school for free, thanks to a historic $7.5 million leadership gift鈥攖he largest ever to the 海角社区 Health New Orleans Foundation.
鈥淎s the weeks go by, I鈥檝e come to realize my scholarship is not a reward鈥攊t鈥檚 an invitation to aim higher and do more and try to earn it every day,鈥� Cazabon said. 鈥淚t has made me a much better student, more fiercely committed to excelling and helping others.鈥�
It was Cazabon鈥檚 dedication to service that made her scholarship application stand out. For many years, she has worked as a volunteer for the New Orleans Women & Children鈥檚 Shelter, helping homeless families. She鈥檚 now on the executive board of 海角社区鈥檚 outreach operation to the shelter.
鈥淚n high school, I went twice a week after school and learned how this city is not all beautiful, but every person can have a real impact,鈥� said Cazabon, who plans on specializing in obstetrics and gynecology to support and advocate for women鈥檚 health.
Dawn Bradley-Fletcher
鈥淒espite all the time and commitment it takes to be a medical student, Julia continues to volunteer and give her all for the New Orleans Women & Children鈥檚 Shelter,鈥� said Dawn Bradley-Fletcher, chief executive officer of the shelter. 鈥淭hanks to 海角社区 Health New Orleans and the Beer scholarship, she is going to be an amazing doctor because she truly loves caring for people.鈥�
Cazabon learned the value of service at home. Growing up in a large Cuban family just outside New Orleans, she watched her dad, a family medicine physician who earned his medical degree at 海角社区 Health Shreveport, come home from serving his Ochsner primary care patients to soon be checking on members of the New Orleans Cuban community after-hours.
Raised 鈥渇amily style,鈥� Julia Cazabon had parents who 鈥減ushed me with so much love, always there to support and forgive.鈥� But right before going to medical school at 海角社区 Health New Orleans, her father Pedro, a physician, died of complications from a massive heart attack. She wrote about it in her scholarship application essay: 鈥淚 saw incredible feats of science save my father and then I learned that, in the end, we still lose great fights.鈥�
鈥淢y dad was the on-call physician to the Cuban elderly population in New Orleans,鈥� Cazabon said. 鈥淭hey would call him at all hours, no shame, 鈥楶edro, my toe hurts.鈥� And he would help them. He was a doctor from the minute he woke up to the minute he went to sleep.鈥�
Cazabon speaks in the past tense because her dad suffered a massive heart attack in October 2022.
鈥淭hat experience, right before I was to go to medical school, I wasn鈥檛 sure I could do it,鈥� Cazabon said. 鈥淭he timing was so bizarre. I had just applied to 海角社区, and it was my dad who was pushing me to do early decision, so I would have the best chance at scholarships and getting into medical school.鈥�
She spent the next two months by her dad鈥檚 side in the hospital before he passed away on New Year鈥檚 Day 2023.
鈥淚t gave me an entirely new perspective on medicine鈥攚hat it really ends up being about,鈥� Cazabon said. 鈥淭he patient and family experience can be very different from what doctors see, and not always good, and finding the value in that was hard. But getting this big dose of reality right before medical school, it made me want to be a physician who understands people鈥檚 suffering and pain.鈥�
For Cazabon and her dad, there was no better choice than 海角社区.
鈥淚 always felt the 海角社区 physicians were like my neighbors, like people I鈥檇 met before, even if I hadn鈥檛,鈥� Cazabon said. 鈥淥ur culture is so pervasive and there鈥檚 no place I鈥檇 rather study medicine than at 海角社区 Health New Orleans.鈥�
Billy Beer was just 25 when he arrived, sick with polio, at New Orleans鈥� Charity Hospital. He was placed in an iron lung鈥攕upposedly found in the basement鈥攁nd cared for by 海角社区 doctors and nurses. Eventually, Beer and his wife Marcia established the Marcia and Billy Beer Endowed Scholarship Fund to pay his care forward. Through full-ride scholarships, the Beers鈥� legacy is now helping students who otherwise couldn鈥檛 afford four years of medical school get a medical degree at 海角社区 Health New Orleans.
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