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Have you ever wondered what it’s truly like to build a long and impactful career in community health care? At TrueCare, our team members are at the heart of everything we do, embodying a deep commitment to patient well-being and a genuine community-centric spirit. Today, we’re honored to share the inspiring story of Maria Sebiane, MD, a lead clinician at TrueCare’s San Marcos Pediatrics Young Adult Site, who has dedicated 25 years and counting to serving her community.
Join us as Dr. Sebiane shares her journey, from her personal motivations to the remarkable growth she’s witnessed and contributed to within TrueCare.
Maria Sebiane, MD, on Finding Purpose through Community Health Center Careers in San Diego at TrueCare
Dr. Sebiane’s dedication to community health is deeply personal, stemming from her own experiences and a lifelong calling. This unwavering passion is precisely what led her to TrueCare, an organization whose mission aligned perfectly with her desire to serve.
Let’s delve into what initially drew Dr. Sebiane to community health care and how she found her professional home at TrueCare.
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What Made You Want to Work in Community Health Care?
Dr. Sebiane is the lead clinician at TrueCare’s San Marcos Pediatrics Young Adult Site. While she has worked at TrueCare for 25 years, community health is a lifelong passion, rooted in what she experienced as a first-generation Costa Rican American.
“I grew up as a first-generation immigrant here in California, and I didn’t have health care,” said Dr. Sebiane as she reflected on what attracted her to community health care careers in the first place. “Growing up, I always thought, ‘I want to be a doctor, and I want to be able to go back and serve my community.’ I found a great home here at TrueCare to carry out this mission because their mission is the same. It’s really special – like finding a professional soulmate. I love being a part of the community and improving the health of the children in San Marcos. I started 32 years ago with TrueCare, but I’ve worked here for 25 years in total. I left for a bit while my husband trained in Denver, but I came back,” she explained.
Dr. Sebiane says her background has made her acutely aware of the significance that cultural sensitivity plays in providing quality patient care.
“I can vividly recall how my immigrant parents and siblings were not afforded consistent quality care,” recalled Dr. Sebiane. “This disparity became the impetus that fueled my desire to become the bilingual, bicultural physician I am today,” she said.
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How Have You Seen TrueCare Grow?
Having been with our organization since 1992, fresh out of residency, Dr. Sebiane has grown alongside us and has witnessed how our organization has evolved.
“We started out as a really small community clinic with just a few colleagues, and now we just keep expanding, site after site,” said Dr. Sebiane. “It’s incredible to witness and really makes you feel like you’re part of something special when you see it,” she said.
What she has loved about working at TrueCare is that she feels like her voice is valued, and she feels like they empower their team to be instrumental to organizational success.
“One of the things I have loved the most about working here is that, throughout my professional career, every time we’ve bumped into a need or something that our patients were not receiving, I have been afforded the opportunity to get grants to work with HRSA and really keep us on the cutting edge,” explained Dr. Sebiane. “You really get invested in the organization because you can feel that they’re invested in you, and that kind of thing is crucial to professional development. Working in this practice has really expanded the limits of what I envisioned my career to be,” she said.
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What Do You Love About Working at TrueCare?
When reflecting on what makes jobs at community health centers like TrueCare so meaningful, Dr. Sebiane said that it’s the community impact and connection.
“I’m now seeing the kids of kids I used to serve – it’s cross-generational,” said Dr. Sebiane. “I’m making sure entire families are receiving the care they need, from the children to the grandparents. I really feel like an extension of these families. It’s an amazing feeling,” she smiled.
However, true to her roots, she says that the most rewarding part of her job is helping families and supporting them in ways that she didn’t experience when she was younger.
“The most rewarding part of my job is helping families and really supporting the families and seeing them grow,” elaborated Dr. Sebiane. “After years of working with families, you develop deep friendships and relationships. When I see them out in the community, it’s always so exciting – it’s like seeing an old family friend. When I see them later, when they graduate from college or come back with their kids, it’s special. The goal, ultimately, is to really know my patients and have that kind of relationship to limit the amount of urgent care or ER visits and try to do most of that within their medical home,” she said.
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Is TrueCare an Inclusive Work Environment?
Dr. Sebiane believes that our organization’s inclusive mindset is reflected in our daily life, and she said it’s one of the primary reasons she worked here in the beginning.
“I did my undergrad at UCSD, and I wanted to stay in the San Diego community,” remembered Dr. Sebiane. “There were a lot of opportunities coming out of training, but I chose to stay in a community clinic setting because here, I’m allowed to see everybody. I don’t limit based on whether they can afford to come here, so I’ve got people who are uninsured and people who are fully insured. I get to treat everyone the same. That kind of inclusivity was very important to my decision,” she said.
She says this inclusive approach informs the care they provide on a daily basis.
“The demographics here in San Marcos have varied a little over the years,” explained Dr. Sebiane. “We are a college town, so we’ve got a couple of colleges here. We’re seeing a lot more of these young adults in our department until they turn 22. I also speak Spanish, probably 60% of the day, with Spanish-speaking only families. But we’ve got all kinds of cultures and people from all over the world whom we serve,” she said.
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What Opportunities Are there for Growth in Community Health Care Jobs at TrueCare?
Dr. Sebiane said that one of the things she loves the most about this niche of health care and the organization itself is the opportunities for growth.
“Part of my role is providing primary care to people who live in the San Marcos community,” said Dr. Sebiane, “but another important part of my role is being an educator to young professionals who want to serve in a community clinic setting. We not only get feeders from the local colleges, but from other cities, too. So, we train MA externs, PA students, nurse practitioner students, and medical students, and we’ve even had people do their residency training here. So, education and growth are really just a part of our culture here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Dr. Sebiane said that for those like her who enjoy teaching and helping other professionals grow, TrueCare is an excellent place to work. She says having the opportunity to teach means having the opportunity to grow because when you’re teaching, you’re learning, too.
“If you enjoy teaching, this is a wonderful place to do that,” said Dr. Sebiane. “We work with team-based care, so the team is not just the clinician. The team also has two support staff, medical assistants, and an anchor MA. We also have two nurses in our department who do a lot of education, a lot of procedures like putting on temporary casts and doing wound debridement and all that. We have a registered dietitian and an integrated behavioral health specialist, too. We’re really proud of the level of health education we provide, and being able to work in a setting where you’re one part of a bigger team is huge,” she said.
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What Do You Love About Working in the San Marcos Location?
Dr. Sebiane said that she loves the central location of the San Marcos site, saying it makes getting to different places easy, which feeds into work-life balance.
“One of the things I love about working in town is how easy it is to get to different places here,” said Dr. Sebiane. “We’re super close to the beach, and we can zoom down and go to San Diego if we need to. It’s really impressive that a lot of the people who work here live in different locations and still find it easy to commute to the San Marcos location. That is critical nowadays because we want to promote a good work-life balance so people can work here for decades like I have,” she said.
Making sure that the team is happy is the surest way to make sure that patients are getting the best possible care, so she says this is a huge point of emphasis here and something that makes community health services careers at TrueCare more fulfilling.
“I always say that if you’re not joyful, you shouldn’t be at work, especially when you’re dealing with kids. Kids know if you’re in a good mood, so having that variety of where you can live and settle down with your family is a really big bonus of joining the San Marcos location,” Dr. Sibiane said.
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What’s It Like Working with Your Team?
Dr. Sebiane says she loves working with her team because she knows she always has the support she needs as long as she has them by her side.
“I love my team because, as a physician, I am the leader, but I’m very aware that I can’t provide the level of care that I want to without my amazing team,” said Dr. Sebiane. “On a day-to-day basis, I work with an anchor MA, and we’ve worked together now for 10 years. We look at our schedule and try to plan what patients are coming for that day. We try to anticipate the patient’s needs and also figure out who else on our bench they will need, whether it’s the RD, the lactation consultant, or a health educator. Then we have a second medical assistant who works with our team,” she said.
She says that collaboration and teamwork are something everyone on the TrueCare team lives and breathes, which helps provide a better patient experience.
“It’s really part of who we are as an organization. For example, we have two health educators who come in before we see the patient to get the history for us. Then afterwards, they can repeat it and make sure families leave knowing what their medications and plan are,” said Dr. Sebiane. “Being able to be a part of a bigger team is huge – we all work in tandem. For example, at the San Marcos location, we have a pharmacy here, too, on site, and it’s helpful if you’ve got a challenging case because you can run it by one of our staff pharmacists, even if the patient goes somewhere else to fill the prescription. The support is incredible, and so is having everything so integrated and harmonious. It results in another level of service that’s available here,” she said.
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What Will Applicants Love About Working at TrueCare?
Dr. Sebiane said being able to put in the time and feel like your voice matters are two components of working at TrueCare that other doctors will love.
“If you have an idea, and you’re willing to put in the time, you can improve the quality of care – you can be the difference, and they empower you to really do that here. It’s something that’s really special about this environment,” said Dr. Sebiane. “For example, one of the doctors here is really interested in how the brain works and any issues involving the brain, whether it’s learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, autism, and now we have an amazing program where we evaluate each child starting at nine months with ages and stages questionnaires,” she smiled.
This, ultimately, was the product of one team member’s passion, and TrueCare made it possible by putting them in a position to execute.
“We track them until they’re five years of age, and if they have any problems with school, we’re able to do fully comprehensive testing, including IQ testing, an ADHD evaluation, and a learning disability evaluation,” continued Dr. Sebiane. “Again, it’s all about doing more 360-degree, holistic care and being a true guide for these families. It’s an incredible feeling. We have a child development specialist who helps with resources and a dedicated person on our panel to help with development. As a clinician, you’re able to then focus on the medical aspect, knowing that your bench is deep and they’ll help you execute your plan. Any doctor would love this kind of support, which is ultimately a reflection of how much TrueCare believes and invests in you,” she beamed.
Ultimately, however, what Dr. Sebiane says is the most important consideration for applicants is surprisingly simple yet still profound. It can be boiled down to a simple, three-letter word: joy.
“What I want to say to all young professionals is that work has to bring you joy,” said Dr. Sebiane. “If you’re here, pick something that you are really passionate about. I can tell you that I’ve been a doctor for 33 years now, and I’m just as pumped to come to work as when I graduated. It is not just because of TrueCare, though the organization has afforded me the opportunity. It’s the fact that I’m constantly working on my profession. How can I improve it? How can I add to my practice? That’s something that each one of us has to decide to do. So, if I have to say anything, make sure that when you’re at work and in this field, they notice if you care. Having that balance but being able to push yourself professionally is everything – that’s what’s going to help you find meaning,” she mused.
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Are You Inspired by Dr. Maria Sebiane’s Journey? Explore Community Health Center Careers at TrueCare Today!
Dr. Maria Sebiane’s 25-year journey at TrueCare powerfully illustrates the profound impact of community health care and the unique environment TrueCare cultivates for its providers. Her story is a testament to TrueCare’s unwavering commitment to empowering its team members, fostering deep patient connections across generations, and prioritizing an inclusive and supportive work culture where every voice is valued and continuous professional growth is encouraged. If you’re a high-quality, mission-driven medical professional seeking a workplace where you can truly make a difference, feel supported, and grow your career, explore career opportunities at TrueCare today!
