John Rodarte, MD '94

Dr. John Rodarte

Class of 1994 member Dr. John G. Rodarte, Clinical Instructor Department of Family Medicine, has several passions.  One is the field of international medicine.  His most recent work in this area has been with Healing Hearts Across Borders (HHAB), a non-profit organization which leads volunteer medical and lay-person teams to Tijuana, Mexico to run free clinics for the poor.  Rodarte currently serves as the president of HHAB, organizing trips to Mexico to provide Tijuana residents with medical care, in addition to food, clothing, and toys.

In 2005, Dr. Rodarte presented a lecture to the International Medicine Student Interest Group at Keck in which he spoke of his own personal path to international medicine, as well as what medical students can do to get an early start.  Rodarte truly enjoys his international experiences, not only for the medicine, but also for the opportunity to experience diverse people, places, and cultures.

In addition to his international medicine work, Dr. Rodarte volunteers his time and medical expertise for a search and rescue team based in Los Angeles.  He has been an L.A. County Reserve Deputy Sheriff for several years, serving on the Montrose Search and Rescue Team which rescues injured and lost hikers in the Angeles National Forest.

A lover of hiking and the outdoors, Dr. Rodarte is currently preparing to participate in this summer's Climb to Fight Breast Cancer.  He is training for a July climb of majestic, snow-capped Mt. Rainier in Washington state. 

Rodarte on Mt. Rainier

  Rodarte’s climbing resume includes Mt. Whitney (twice) and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, as well as a previous attempt on Mt. Rainier in which he was turned back due to avalanche danger. He will be climbing in honor of a dear friend and breast-cancer survivor.

Dr. Rodarte has been a part of the USC family ever since he tagged along with his older brother and sister to USC football games when they were undergraduates.  He was excited when, after graduating from Harvard University, he was able to officially join the USC family at the Keck School of Medicine.  Like those who have gone before him, he has plenty of stories about “Big County” during his days on rotations.  Perhaps his fondest first memories are those of his ICM (Introduction to Clinical Medicine) classes, where he first began to feel like a doctor.

Returning to USC/Keck as an ICM instructor for the last four years has been a joy for Dr. Rodarte.   He is also looking forward to serving as an advisor for the Wilderness Medicine Student Interest Group and will hopefully soon be starting a Wilderness Medicine elective for USC students

Dr. Rodarte sees the practice of medicine continuing to evolve, as new technologies push our limits ever forward.  With this new technology, ground-breaking research, such as that being done by USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center or the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for which he is climbing, is becoming ever more critical.  Rodarte is proud to be able to play even a small part in this important pathway.

Rodarte with patient in Tijuana

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