Gabe Munoz

Gabriel Munoz’s path to medicine was never linear, and that’s exactly what makes his story one of growth. When Gabriel graduated from high school, his next steps were not clear. He struggled through a few classes at community college and found his time better used in the workforce, taking a job as a bank teller before moving into sales. While he enjoyed working with people, something always felt incomplete. He knew he was capable of more; he just hadn't discovered what that "more" was.

Rather than let uncertainty stall him, Gabriel kept moving. He returned to school, initially planning to study computer science and pursue a more established career in IT. As he worked through his general education, he realized something about himself. He found himself drawn to biology and chemistry, where he discovered he loved thinking in pathways, tracing how one concept connected to the next. Medicine began to feel less like a career and more like a calling. As a non-traditional student already five years out of high school, he felt behind his peers. When his sales division was closed in a large layoff, he chose to see it as a blessing in disguise, an opening to finally focus on what he really wanted. 

His resilience showed in how he tested each new direction. Gabriel volunteered in a research laboratory at Cal State Fullerton, learning the scientific process and contributing to projects. Although he enjoyed research, he missed being around people – the interactions he’d always had in sales. He found his true motivation in serving others directly. Each step in Gabriel’s path taught him more about where he belonged.

After transferring to UCLA, an unexpected connection changed everything.

A close family friend introduced him to Christina Lopez, who invited him to submit his CV and learn more about CORE Kidney. From their very first conversation, he knew he’d met someone special. “Very kind, very warm,” he recalls. “Christina gets all the credit for bringing me into CORE Kidney.” That single conversation opened doors that would shape the rest of his career. 

From his very first week at CORE, Gabriel was immersed in experiences unlike anything he had imagined. He met kidney donors and recipients whose resilience inspired him. He worked alongside physicians and researchers, shadowed clinics, and took part in clinical research. He helped organize outreach events, traveled to Tijuana to educate children about healthy living, and contributed to community programs that emphasized compassion as much as medicine. Most importantly, he met Dr. Anjay Rastogi.

Two lessons from Dr. Rastogi have resonated with Gabriel deeply. The first: medicine is both a science and an art. Reading labs and making medical decisions matter, but so does helping patients and their families navigate diagnosis by connecting with the community around them. The second came when Gabriel asked how he copes with the patients he can’t help. Dr. Rastogi’s answer – that giving his best is what carries him through, because every patient deserves the best – is something Gabriel vows to carry throughout his career. 

Gabriel earned every opportunity through consistency and grit. Despite commuting long distances from Ontario, he would often arrive at 5:00am, sometimes taking the bus when he shared a car with his wife. That work ethic earned Dr. Rastogi’s trust and drew him into major projects like the Fabry, IgA, and ADPKD rare disease registries, which allowed him to rise from volunteer to clinical research coordinator.

Behind every accomplishment stood another source of strength: his wife who was in nursing school at the same time. If Gabriel ever felt any doubts about his future, she believed in him and gave him the strength to keep going. Together, they decided that he would pursue medicine, and they supported each other through school. Shortly after beginning her nursing career, they faced a surprise when she became pregnant. Despite balancing the demands of his work as a clinical coordinator, medical school applications, and preparing to become parents, they continued to support one another every step of the way. “Without her, I don’t know if I’d be here,” he says.

One day, Gabriel received the call he had dreamed about for years. He was at work when he was notified of his acceptance at UC Riverside School of Medicine. He waited a few hours until he could drive home and tell his wife and mother in person. “It felt so surreal,” he recalls. “All of that work paying off in a moment.”

Looking back, Gabriel doesn’t point to a single defining moment that made him want to become a physician. Instead, it was the accumulation of countless experiences. Each patient interaction, early morning, mentor, challenge, all of which gradually revealed where he belonged. He remembers the moment he told his wife he wanted to pursue medicine: “I’ve never lit up like that. Nothing was ever that clear.” His advice to anyone considering a similar leap is simple: you do not have to have your entire life figured out. What matters is moving forward intentionally and knowing that people are still figuring it out even later in life. Growth comes from effort, not certainty.

As he begins medical school, Gabriel remains committed to the same values that carried him through his journey: humility, perseverance, and gratitude. He hopes to pay forward the mentorship he received, to find ways to give back to CORE Kidney and the Bruin Beans, just as Christina, Dr. Rastogi, and so many others once invested in him and continue to do so.