Biographies

2009 Champions of Health Professions Diversity Award Honorees

Guillermo J. Camacho

As a beneficiary of college programs that encouraged diversity in the health professions, Dr. Guillermo J. Camacho makes it a priority to give back to the community that helped him achieve his goal of becoming a dentist. Camacho provides pro bono dental services to students in need and reaches out to students of color who are interested in health careers at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is currently a neuromuscular cosmetic dentist with his own practice, Sunset Dental Professionals, in West Covina.

While a student at Cal Poly Pomona, Camacho participated in the Science Educational Enhancement Services (SEES) program, which promotes diversity among students in the College of Science and encourages first-generation college students to pursue careers in the sciences. He was matched with a dentist who served as a mentor and encouraged his interest in pursuing a career in dentistry. Camacho continues to be involved in the SEES program as a speaker and role model to underrepresented students interested in health careers.

Born in Mexico and raised in Ontario, California, Camacho received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cal Poly Pomona, and a doctorate in dental surgery from the UCLA School of Dentistry. He is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the San Gabriel Dental Society, the California Dental Association and the American Dental Association. Camacho volunteers his skills in treatment and prevention of sports dental injuries as team dentist for the athletic departments at Cal Poly Pomona and Azusa Pacific University.

Shirley Flores-Muñoz

Dr. Shirley Flores-Muñoz founded and serves as program director of Pathways to Health Careers, a program at Cabrillo College organized to recruit and support underrepresented and first-generation college students who pursue health careers. In the last five years alone, Pathways to Health Careers has encouraged more than 3,000 students to engage in health-related subjects and activities. She is also a professor of women’s studies and history at Cabrillo College.

Pathways to Health Careers is a collaborative effort whose success relies on relationships that Flores-Muñoz has cultivated with community partners including local junior high and high schools, health workers, and hospital human resource departments. Through the program, students gain access to mentors, counselors, workshops and study groups and also get practical, firsthand experience in local health agencies, clinics and hospitals. Flores-Muñoz has been a champion of gender equity and has established programs that encourage and support disenfranchised women to pursue college educations and enter the workforce. She was a key figure in organizing the women’s studies program at Cabrillo College.

Born and raised in Watsonville, Flores-Muñoz received both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in history and a doctorate in history of consciousness from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has been honored by numerous organizations including Santa Cruz County Women’s Commission, Latina Leadership Network, and the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Tomás A. Magaña

A passionate advocate for health workforce diversity, Dr. Tomás A. Magaña has dedicated himself to helping youth empower themselves to pursue careers in health care. Magaña was deeply affected by the lack of diversity he experienced throughout his medical training. In an effort to correct that, he co-founded the FACES for the Future program at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland in 2000. FACES for the Future is a comprehensive program that prepares high school students from disadvantaged areas for entry into health careers through services such as internships, mentorship and psycho-social support. Magaña is also an attending physician of adolescent medicine at Children's Hospital Oakland and medical director of Alameda County's Juvenile Justice Center.

Magaña is working to expand the FACES model into other Californian communities. He is the founding director of the FACES program at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward and is guiding the creation of FACES programs in San Diego and in Imperial County. Previously, Magaña founded and directed the San Francisco Kaiser Hospital Mentorship Program for underrepresented youth. He is one of the founding board members of the SELAM Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides youth with learning opportunities in international medical service.

A native of East Los Angeles, Magaña received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University, a master’s in endocrinology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. Magaña has served on numerous county, state and national advisory boards focusing on pediatric health issues, health care workforce development, and cultural competency in medicine. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of many professional organizations, including the Society for Adolescent Medicine and California Latino Medical Association.