Miguel Pineiro was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Florida. He served as a hospital corpsman in the US Navy. After the Navy, PA Pineiro attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida and majored in environmental studies. He is a 2004 graduate of the Duke University PA program.
Initially, PA Pineiro was reluctant to enter medicine, but, while working as a medical assistant in Seattle, he was inspired by Dr. Kristyna Pilecki, MD to pursue becoming a PA. The majority of his career he practiced clinically in emergency medicine. He is currently a primary clinic practice owner as well as serving as principal faculty at the Campbell University PA program.
Miguel applied to the North Carolina Medical Board out of a desire to serve. He states, “we at the NCMB take the duty to keep the citizens of North Carolina safe as one of the most important things we can do as practitioners.” His is also interested in having a seat at the table as we navigate the future of the PA profession here in North Carolina.
Seven years ago, Miguel opened a primary care practice in Raleigh called FamHealth which focuses on providing bi-lingual, compassionate care, “where cultural differences are acknowledged and respected”. One of his main concerns is access to care, and he is working to reduce barriers for Spanish-speaking patients. He knows that many patients live in rural areas and may not know how to access care or be able to see clinicians who speak their native language. He is concerned about the lack of bilingual providers and encourages other clinicians to take medical Spanish classes or participate in immersion experiences to help become proficient in Spanish.
Through is work, he sees the impacts of health disparities in diabetes, hypertension and vascular disease in Hispanic/LatinX patients and believes that education is key. He would like to see more Spanish-speaking certified diabetes educators and mental health specialists to help address some these disparities. He shares, “I think that as PA’s we recognize that we serve everyone regardless of their background, gender, creed or social status. Becoming sensitive to each of our patients’ uniqueness and individuality is not only the right thing to do but it definitely improves patient outcomes.”
PA Pineiro is very passionate about the PA profession and believes deeply in team based care. He wants to make sure that PAs are seen as both amazing patient advocates and safe, competent providers. He feels very optimistic about the future of the PA profession and believes that there is nothing that PAs can’t do!
