Christopher Gonzaga, MD, FACP, was recently recognized by the New Mexico Chapter of American College of Physicians for his sustained dedication to reducing health disparities in rural western New Mexico.
Dr. Gonzaga is a primary care and infectious diseases physician at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services-College Clinic in Gallup.
Gonzaga moved to Gallup and began practicing in 1997 and immediately committed himself to this rural and underserved community. He has served as a board member to the Cibola Medical Foundation, assisted in fundraising for local schools, coordinated social events among the Four Corners Filipino community, and provided flu shots at local homeless shelters.
Recently, he has served in a leadership role in an interdisciplinary effort to reduce homelessness and exposure deaths in Gallup. His scholarly service has included mentoring high school and college students and immigrant healthcare workers, and also numerous presentations to his own hospital and to the community at large.
He has also supported mission trips in developing countries. Gonzaga humbly thanked the NM Chapter for such a prestigious award.
“I would like to thank the Lord God for giving me the inspiration and being my guide as the Great Physician and the Good Shepherd who looks after the welfare of his people,” he said. “I would like to thank my friends and colleagues who have helped and supported me in all the projects that we have worked on together to make the community of Gallup, New Mexico a better place to live.”
He performed his undergraduate studies at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City and then graduated from medical school at the University of the Philippines in Manila. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine, and then fellowship in cardiology at the University of the Philippine-Philippine General Hospital.
After moving to the United States, he completed an internal medicine internship at St. Michael’s Medical Center (Seton Hall University), and residency in internal medicine at St. Peter’s Medical Center (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School). He completed his fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
In recognition of Dr. Gonzaga’s sustained dedication to reducing disparities in rural western New Mexico, The New Mexico Chapter of American College of Physicians presented Dr. Gonzaga with the 2015 Community Service and Volunteerism Award.
