By the time she was 23, Idelisa Torres-Berastain was a doctor. The fact that she looked young for her age raised more than a few eyebrows.

 

"I'd get the comments like, 'you're too young to be a doctor!' or 'geez, doctors are looking younger these days,' or I'd get the Doogie Howser comments," said Torres-Berastain, with a laugh. "Now I'm 35, but it still happens today because I look 25."

 

Torres-Berastain grew up in Ponce, the second largest city in tropical Puerto Rico. Founded in 1692 by Juan Ponce de Leon's great-grandson, Loiza Ponce de Leon, it was dubbed the "La Perla del Sur" or "Pearl of the South." Surrounded by family and friends in a city rich in history and deep cultural roots, Torres-Berastain was an early bloomer and a fast study. At the co-ed Catholic school she attended from kindergarten to senior high, Torres-Berastain excelled in science and was drawn to medicine from an early age.

 

"My mom was an RN, and like all little girls, I wanted to be like her," explained Torres-Berastain, the oldest of three children born to Ruben Torres, an instrument technician, and Idelisa Berastain, now retired. "But I'd already decided I wanted to be more like a pediatrician than a nurse, the one that cures the child."

 

After fast-tracking her college curriculum to earn a natural sciences degree from the University of Puerto Rico in 1997, graduating summa cum laude at the age of 19, she earned a medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in 1998. A bump in the road occurred when Torres-Berastain moved to the United States to complete an internal medicine internship at the Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation in New Orleans, La.

 

"I was so lost," Torres-Berastain admitted. "I had moved to this country all by myself, and everything was new to me. My English wasn't what you hear today. It's difficult to leave all your friends and family to start a new life all over again, especially being different—a young Puerto Rican. It was a challenging time. Later on, I recognized that being different had its advantages."

 

Torres-Berastain moved north of the Mason-Dixon Line to complete a radiology residency at the University Of Massachusetts School Of Medicine. She loved the Boston area so much that she remained there to complete a fellowship in the Abdominal Imaging and Intervention Section of the Women's Imaging Radiology Department at Brigham and Women's Hospital via Harvard Medical School.

 

"During my third or fourth year of medical school, I'd thought surely I'd pursue pediatrics or gynecology as a specialty, by either taking care of children or helping bring babies into the world, but I discovered radiology fascinating, and had a knack for recognizing shadows and other subtleties on film," said Torres-Berastain, a physics award-winner. "You can follow the book learning to a T, but if you don't have the talent for it, none of it matters. Fortunately, I had it."

 

While on holiday in Puerto Rico during her fellowship, Torres-Berastain struck up a conversation at a local beach with Jose Luis Gonzalez, a young Puerto Rican artist who specialized in murals and oils on canvas. Both were amazed to learn they shared the same hometown and lived in Massachusetts. In 2004, they married, and pondered their next move.

 

"We loved Massachusetts, and everything about Boston," she said. "I had a lot of great girlfriends there, and between the Boston Red Sox, great restaurants of every ethnicity, the Boston Ballet, theaters, concerts and musicals, we could do something different every night of the week. It's such a fun city for young adults –but it was too cold!"

 

Newly married, the couple traveled to Mexico, Italy, France, Spain, England, Amsterdam, Greece and Turkey. They also visited Hawaii and squeezed in a couple of Caribbean cruises and several trips home to Puerto Rico to visit their families, especially her younger brothers, Ruben and Javier.

 

A little over two years ago, Torres-Berastain gave birth to her daughter, Ariana Gonzalez, whom she calls "my little princess."

 

"My daughter occupies most of my spare time," said Torres-Berastain. "She'll call me and say 'go to Disney, Mommy?' and that's where we'll take her. She keeps her daddy busy painting Disney caricatures on the walls of her rooms."

 

Upon reflection, Torres-Berastain said her greatest challenge in life didn't occur when she moved to the United States alone, or attended medical school as one of the youngest students, or completed her residency. Instead, it's one shared by most mothers – determining the best balance of time.

 

"My daughter needs me, and I need her," said Torres-Berastain. "I want to be there for her, and for my work, so finding that balance is sometimes tricky."