Born and raised in Honduras, Fernando Raudales, MD, FASN, FACP gravitated toward the medical field at a young age. His father, Asdrubal Rudolfo, was an accomplished physician and his aunt, Martha Raudales de Midence, became the first female physician in the country in 1947 when she started her practice. Growing up, he would often go with his father to see patients and instantly enjoyed the idea of taking care of patients and assisting them medically. This ultimately led him to earn a Doctor of Medicine from the National Autonomous University of Honduras, from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1979. He later bolstered his credentials with certification in internal medicine and nephrology from the American Board of Internal Medicine and in hypertension from the American Heart Association.

Following his academic years, Dr. Raudales enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1982, advancing to the rank of major by the time he concluded his service in 1992. During his military duty, he launched his career as the founder, president, nephrologist, and consultant at El Paso Kidney Specialists in 1987, where he remains active to this day. He’s also excelled as the medical director at Central City Dialysis since 1993 and, amid this role, served as the chief of staff at Providence Memorial Hospital and the Sierra Medical Center, where he was chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine. In addition, he’s been active as the medical director at Transmountain Dialysis since 2013, the medical director of transplant services at Las Palmas Medical Center since 2009, and the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee co-chair since 2003.

Outside of his primary roles in the industry, Dr. Raudales has contributed his time and effort to the Medical Review Board of the End Stage Renal Disease Network, the Las Palmas Medical Center, and the Baptist Free Clinic in El Paso—where he’s been active since 2005. He has also contributed numerous articles as a hypertension reviewer and writer and has been featured in Millennium Magazine, Forbes Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. Over the years, he’s been connected to his field as a dedicated member of the American Society of Nephrology, the International Society of Nephrology, the Texas Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Society of Hypertension, among others.

Among his numerous accomplishments, Dr. Raudales is especially proud of keeping the local kidney program alive and staying in his community of El Paso all these decades; a relatively poor community, he has strived to utilize his medical expertise to improve it and make a difference. Taught from a young age by his mother to pursue medicine not for the reward but to help others, he encourages future generations of doctors to “take care of patients [no matter what] and forget about the coverage they have.”

Looking toward the future, Dr. Raudales hopes to be retired within five years, at which point he wants to spend more time with his five grandchildren. A happy father of three, he’s proud that his two sons are following in his footsteps and studying at medical school in New York.