Dr. Nathaniel Roybal is a true son of New Mexico. Raised in Mora, he is one of nine children from schoolteacher parents. He has pursued much of his education in his home state and operates his practice, Retina Consultants of New Mexico, in Albuquerque. Dr. Roybal says,” We were raised to work hard and get an education.”
In his youth, he was the youngest EMT in New Mexico and went to New Mexico State University to earn an Animal Sciences degree. He later switched gears to medical school and trained at UCLA where he did a post-doctoral fellowship looking at gene therapies inside the eye and stem cell therapies, as well as a fellowship at the University of Iowa where he pioneered procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of retinal diseases.
Returning to New Mexico, he was part of the first graduating class of the newly minted MD/PhD program at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Roybal tells us,” The goal of the program is to create doctors with heavy science training. There's plenty of scientists and there's plenty of doctors but you need folks who are translational and who can think innovatively, and with translational training, you either need to relay needs from the clinic back to the laboratory or be able to see things that are happening inside the laboratory that might be applied clinically.”
Dr. Roybal tells us that interaction with patients is a valuable resource. “The time I spend with them, they teach me so much. I think that's one of the best things about getting to spend time with them, as someone with a scientific inquiring mind gets to really see where the need is when you're in the trenches with the patients.”
Dr. Roybal started his independent practice in 2020 with the goal of bringing world-class medical care to New Mexico. He says, "We started the practice during COVID, and, at the time, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. However, we went from zero patients to a practice needing to hire more doctors very quickly. Our goal was to be the gold standard clinic.”
He also devotes a great deal of his time to a legislative advocacy group to bring more doctors to New Mexico. He says,” Our purpose is to make New Mexico the greatest place on earth to practice medicine. We have a shortage of medical people in this state, so to me, it's personal. I want my family to have great care and that's my mom and dad and my aunts and uncles and my brothers and sisters...they're all here and so I'm in it for the long haul. We want doctors to know that this is a great place to practice medicine and we’re advocating for policies that can bring them here.”
Dr. Roybal is a busy man with his practice and his medical advocacy, but he still values his New Mexico roots. He says, “I guess I'm just a New Mexico ranch kid turned doctor, but the doctor role has just taken all my time, so I don't get out on the ranch much these days, but it's an amazing calling and I feel incredibly blessed.”
Retina Consultants of New Mexico is at 6401 Holly Ave, NE. The phone number is 505.847.7000. Their website is nmretina.com.
“I guess I'm just a New Mexico ranch kid turned doctor, but the doctor role has just taken all my time, so I don't get out on the ranch much these days, but it's an amazing calling and I feel incredibly blessed.”
Dr. Nathaniel Roybal