New Doctor, Yanet Camarena, Joins Clinic
Posted on Friday, July 26th, 2024
Yanet Camarena, M.D.
(July 26, 2024): There was excitement in the Mercy Health Love County Clinic on July 24. Dr. Yanet Camarena, M.D., had arrived to organize her office and treatment rooms. She would be starting her first medical practice the following week.
Her husband, Daniel White, their 21-month-old son, Gabriel, and a young niece, Karina Camarena, lent a helping hand (well, Gabriel clattered away on the computer keyboard), along with staff members of the clinic.
“I am very excited to start my job as a physician here in Marietta. I look forward to serving and caring for patients of all ages, from newborn to geriatric,” Dr. Camarena said.
The day seemed a capstone to a long and arduous trek to become a doctor that started with Dr. Camarena growing up in Watonga, OK. She is the oldest of six children born after her parents emigrated from Jalisco, Mexico.
A defining moment at age 11 inspired the doctor’s future career. “My brother was hit by a car, resulting in him being rushed to our local ER where I served as an interpreter for my mother,” Camarena said. “During this experience, I realized the major impact that caring and knowledgeable physicians had on patients’ lives.”
She also loved the study of biology and has a drive to excell. “My hunger for knowledge and passion for health education pushed me throughout my journey to always strive to do my best.”
After two years, with the help of surgery and physical therapy, Dr. Camarena’s brother made a full recovery, and his sister Yanet, at age 31, has fulfilled her dream to serve others as a physician.
Bilingualism is still a part of the picture. “I am proud to be bilingual, speaking both Spanish, which is my primary language and English, which is my second language, allowing me to advocate for a larger population of people as well as treat them in the clinic/hospital/or ER setting with little disruption to building rapport,” Camarena said.
She recently completed a three-year residency in family medicine in Fort Smith through the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences. While training and moonlighting at various clinics, the doctor gained additional proficiency in neonatal, newborn, infant, adolescent, and women’s health.
She also learned additional primary care procedures, including ganglion cyst removal (except on face), skin biopsies, joint aspirations, large joint injections (shoulders and knees) for pain relief, and removal of ingrown toenails.
She trained in the care of hospitalized patients with skills in intubation, incision and drainage, chest tubes, and ultrasound-guided IV access. Part-time work in an emergency room gave her the opportunity to perfect her bedside ultrasound skills in patients from obstetrics, pediatrics, and trauma.
Dr. Camarena graduated from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, located in the island state of St. Maarten, with an M.D. degree in 2021. Her undergraduate degree in biology is from East Central University, Ada, in 2016.
A cross-country and track scholarship led Dr. Camarena to complete her first two years of college at Oklahoma Baptist University. After an injury ended her running career along with her athletic scholarship, she transferred to ECU. She worked as a pharmacy technician, bank teller and server to help cover costs.
While in her third-year of clinical rotations during medical school, Dr. Camarena discovered her passion for family medicine.
“One minute the physician I was shadowing was seeing a newborn, the next minute, she had a conversation with a 90-year-old patient who had cancer, and the next she saw a pregnant woman who had Lyme disease,” Dr. Camarena said. “I thought, ‘this is incredible – you get to do everything. From then on, it was family medicine for me.’”
Dr. Camarena is seeing patients at the Mercy Health Love County clinic from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. In a short while, she will take a brief maternity leave to prepare for the birth of her second son. “I will begin building relationships with patients in the months to come,” she said.
She joins other primary care providers in the clinic, including Drs. Stacy Goode, Terry Jones, Stephen Hutchins, and Jordan Paslay; and Family Nurse Practitioners Patricia Owens and Nikki Barker.