Dr. Lola Carrete is a Staff Physician at CenterWell and is board-certified in Internal Medicine. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from New Mexico State University, a Doctor of Medicine from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. In her previous tenure at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Dr. Carrete was an Assistant Professor in the Internal Medicine Department where she taught medical students and Internal Medicine residents. She also treated patients privately and in the primary care clinic and served as Medical Director of one of the hospital units while chairing a pharmacy subcommittee. In these roles, Dr. Carrete provided care for seniors in both primary care clinic and hospital settings. She credits these experiences for giving her the chance to embrace the entire spectrum of care from annual wellness visits to advanced care planning to end-of-life. It also made her a firm believer in the importance of preventative care and active management of chronic conditions to keep her patients as healthy as possible. Dr. Carrete also believes that the most important thing she can do as a provider is to listen to her patients and make sure they participate in the decision-making regarding their care. This means taking the social, cultural, economic, mental and spiritual facets of a patient’s life to determine how their overall well-being is influenced. “As a physician, the most rewarding aspect of my work has been building strong relationships with my patients and seeing them thrive.”