Dr. Ricardo Roa grew up in Nicaragua and learned the lessons of determination and hard work through the people around him. A December 2016 graduate of the Physician Executive MBA (PEMBA) program, Dr. Roa is an otolaryngologist in Proctorville, Ohio.

At the age of five, Roa’s family relocated from Managua, Nicaragua, to Schenectady, New York, for his father’s job as an electrical engineer. “My father taught me the meaning of hard work and the value of education,” Roa said. He internalized how hard his parents worked, and determined to do the same.

During his undergraduate career at the George Washington University, Roa worked as a laboratory assistant at the National Institutes of Health on a team developing a vaccine for Hepatitis B. It took many years of hard work and labor before that dream came to fruition. “This taught me the value of perseverance and I think my leadership style still reflects that underlying tendency,” Roa says. He also worked in academic medicine at the Johns Hopkins University Ear, Nose and Throat department, as well as Marshall university and in private practice. He currently practices within the Holzer Health System.

However, Roa saw the need to enhance his medical practice with business tactics. “I wanted to acquire a broader skill set to better contribute to the organization,” he says. “PEMBA has helped me to further develop and refine leadership skills to work toward physician empowerment and a patient-centered health system.”

Roa and wife, Ann, have enjoyed life’s many changes. They have 10 children, and became first-time grandparents in June. “I believe change is the key to continuous improvement and I believe in living intentionally,” he says. “Perseverance and hard work have been central to my current success.”