Lorenzo Telleria, M.D. has been working as an Infectious Disease (ID) physician for 22 years. Dr. Telleria has practiced medicine ever since he graduated from medical school back in 1991, from Universidad de Los Andes in Venezuela. His first position was as a rural doctor working in a hospital in the city of Valencia, where he was in charge of the Emergency Department after hours and took care of 200-300 patients each night. From there, he then arrived in the United States and passed all licensing exams, and participated in the NRMP where he obtained the position of resident in Internal Medicine (categorical) at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he trained for four years. Later, Dr. Telleria obtained a 2-year fellowship and finished in 2000.
Dr. Telleria has an extensive career history, which also includes some important achievements. During his tenure as ID at his hospitals, the proportion of infections after surgical procedures and at the wards/ICU dramatically improved. In addition, the bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics improved markedly as well. His work and leadership also led to coordinating the hospital response to various pandemics/epidemics: Flu AH1N1, Chikungunya virus, Zika virus, Dengue viruses, Malaria, and in Nigeria an epidemic of a very dangerous life-threatening virus of Lassa fever.
Dr. Telleria is excited to work directly with the FCHC community, serving at the best of his abilities and making advances in the ID areas most needed: HIV, and Hep. B/C, STDs, TB, and many others. He envisions being able to open additional services as he continues his FCHC journey, such as an outpatient Prep program, infusion center, wound care, bone, and joint infection clinic, etc.
On a personal note, he lives by this quote: “Treat every person as if they were your family and as you would like to be treated.” He has been married to his wife, Dorita, for 26 years and has three children: Lorenzo, Jr., who is in the military and graduated with a degree in Criminology and is currently in helicopter school; Maria, who graduates from LSU in May with a degree in Nutrition; and Carlos, who will finish high school this year. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, hunting and golfing, reading wartime and fiction novels, and traveling – seeing the world and learning new cultures.