Match Day 2026 – Juan Garcia on HEAL Outreach Program
Juan Garcia was born at Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, a primary teaching hospital for UTHealth Houston, and grew up in a North Houston neighborhood surrounding the hospital. After moving away for the first time in his life to complete his undergraduate training at The University of Texas at Austin, McGovern Medical School was an obvious choice for Juan to continue his education.
“When deciding on where I wanted to train, I knew that I wanted to come back to the same community that I had grown up in,” Juan said.
Growing up in Houston allowed Juan to see the impacts that a lack of access to affordable health care can have on a patient’s health. He watched as members of his own family, who were visibly sick, could not get access to the health care that they needed. “Witnessing that firsthand inspired me and gave me a spark that I needed in order to hopefully change that experience, which I know is not an isolated occurrence,” Juan said.
Juan began helping make changes at McGovern Medical School, where he joined the Healthcare Exploration and Learning (HEAL) Program, which fosters mentorship and encourages first-generation high school students to consider health care careers. Serving as co-director for two years, Juan taught high school students basic science activities like anatomy and suturing skills.
“Having that experience to mentor the next generation of physicians and spark that idea that they’re able to reach the same goals made me very happy and also reminded me of one of the other reasons why I decided to go into medicine, which is to always inspire the next generation to believe in themselves and to believe that they are able to get the career they need in order to make a difference in the world.”
When he opens his envelope on Match Day, no matter where his letter says he is headed, Juan is hoping to return to Houston and give back to the community where he was raised.
“I’m applying into family medicine, where I’m hoping to eventually come back to the Harris Health System and continue working with the local communities to make sure that I provide equitable access to health care for the underserved populations, but also be able to change the way that we address these social determinants of health for these communities,” Juan said.