Residents Connect through Food and Culture

August 12, 2022

Henry Colorado, MD, PGY-1, Internal Medicine Resident

I was born in Bogota, Colombia and came to the U.S. when I was three years old. Growing up, food was an important aspect of our family dynamic; it was how we built a strong relationship within ourselves as well as with our Hispanic community. At an early age I had a huge love of eating and preparing food. Nowadays, it is my goal to travel abroad as often as I can to different countries to immerse myself in food and culture.


The first week of orientation at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) was nerve-wracking – I had moved to a new area where I knew absolutely no one. Luckily, I was blessed with an incredibly diverse and friendly intern class that were easy to befriend and interact with. Because we had such a diverse group, I made it a mission to coordinate a potluck where we could all bring food that was relevant to our respective cultures. With only four days of planning, my classmates and I were able to coordinate a location and a sign-up sheet to bring food. We all got together on a Tuesday evening after orientation, met in the lobby of an apartment complex, and enjoyed the different foods we all brought. There were Polish pierogis, lechon, Indian food, hummus and comfort food — a true potpourri of cultural food.


I was encouraged by my co-resident’s willingness to make this dinner a possibility given our busy schedules during orientation. I am encouraged that our desire for diversity is something that NGMC embraces. This event makes me look forward to the future dinners we will have together and the bonds we will create through them.

To learn more about NGMC GME, visit https://www.ngmcgme.org/

“It shows that we are dedicated to sharing our respective cultures with each other openly, but also are willing to make time for each other.”

Dr. Colorado