An interview with Camino Bañuelos

Camino Bañuelos (Puebla de Alcocer, Badajoz, 1947) belongs to the pioneering generation of women physicians who transformed interventional cardiology in Spain. Her vocation was kindled in adolescence, inspired by her father’s stories, a health care worker during the Spanish Civil War. After overcoming academic and social barriers in an era when few women studied medicine, she began her career in the Madrid mountain range, where she is still remembered for her warmth and dedication. She soon entered the emerging field of interventional cardiology at Hospital Clínico San Carlos (Madrid, Spain) becoming a reference in cardiac catheterizations, valvuloplasties, and as a teacher of future specialists. In the first place, could you give us a brief overview of your biography? I was born in Extremadura (Spain) in 1947, into a family of public servants. I was the youngest of 3 siblings. My life seemed destined for a different path, but a failed exam opened the door to what would become my true vocation: medicine. When I was 14, my parents offered me a job at a bank in Toledo (Spain), provided that I passed the reválida—Spain’s national secondary school exam required for university admission—which ended up shaping my future. I failed it, but after...