Dr. Bahamonde provides evidence-based, peer-reviewed, culturally appropriate medical care in English and Spanish to diverse patients from around the world. As the first Latina gastroenterologist in the San Gabriel Valley today, her practice has been driven by the needs of the Latinx community, most evident during the peak of our global COVID19 Pandemic. Dr. Bahamonde finds significant value in mutually respectful open communication. She welcomes diverse cultural norms in the professional, physician-patient relationship and fosters informed decision-making, in the context of patient-centered goals of care. She cultivates physician-patient relationships that are based on trust and open communication, and aims to help improve her patients’ knowledge about their digestive health status, as well as assess what their treatment preferences are and why. As a medical ethicist, she views extreme indecision or resistance about treatment options & care planning to be a result of limited understanding of how to weigh-in risks and benefits about goals of care. Dr. Bahamonde emphasizes peer-reviewed understanding of the interrelationship of body, structure, and function, allowing her special insight into treating gut-brain disorders. She has dedicated her life to serving diverse communities through education and cultural competence, recognizing the importance of open communication in shared-decision making. Dr. Bahamonde continues to inspire future health care leaders as volunteer faculty in clinical medicine, medical ethics, and clinical research. She is dedicated to translational science efforts for youth in STEM programs and students in pre-health professions.