Page 58 - Club Braman Magazine_Fall-Winter.22

It was early March, 2020. The eve of the COVID-19 her treatment. A consummate professional, Dr. Diaz
pandemic. Nothing in her three decades of experience doesn’t take anything personally—but concedes the
could have prepared her for what lay in store for her notable distrust of medical professionals is tiring.
and her fellow medical professionals. The closest
possible comparison might have been the hysteria It’s a sentiment she never would have predicted at
surrounding HIV that took hold in the ‘80s while age five, when she boldly proclaimed to her parents
she was still a fledgling doctor; however, this was not that she wanted to become a doctor. She remained
something that could be ignorantly dismissed as a singularly focused on her goal through high school,
malady confined to a subset of the population. This then college, and into medical school. Infectious
Coronavirus was transmitted regardless of age, race, diseases in particular caught her eye—figuring out
wealth, or sexual orientation. The epidemiology was solutions and answers given limited information
new, and its ease of infection terrifying. was akin to being Sherlock Holmes. She found it all
immensely enjoyable.
More than two-and-a-half years later, COVID-19 is
still a top priority at FoundCare West Palm Beach, of Nearly as enjoyable perhaps, as her long history of
which Dr. Diaz acts as Infectious Disease Director. Porsche ownership. She purchased her first in 1996,
Today, the variations are weaker—a natural result shortly after earning her degree from the University
of viral mutations, and a process accelerated by of Florida. Though a dream come true, she briefly
mass adoption of vaccines and booster shots— traded it for a BMW M3, convinced she needed the
though she still encounters patients fighting for practicality. She couldn’t remain away from the
their lives. Even as an expert, she admits it is hard Stuttgart sports cars for long however, and embarked
to decipher the changing information available, but on an impressive run of models, most of which over
also acknowledges this as the first instance in her the past decade, coming courtesy of Porsche West
career in which patients have at times dismissed Palm Beach.

58

9/7/2022 6:18:17 PM
2022-Fall-Winter Magazine_v3.indd 58
2022-Fall-Winter Magazine_v3.indd 58 9/7/2022 6:18:17 PM