Dr. Marcial Santos

MD, Associate Medical Director at Liberty Commons

Marcial Santos, MD, Associate Medical Director at Liberty Commons, brings a remarkable combination of professional training and life experience to the Broad Reach community.

Born and raised in the Dominican Republic in Bani, a town west of Santo Domingo, he was one of five children. His dad was a mechanic and his mom took care of home and kids.

“I worked with my father in his garage every weekend,” Marcial remembers. “He told me to work hard, no matter what.”

The doctor-to-be became a welder in high school, but wanted to go to university and his parents were supportive as could be. Santos made his way through one of the nation’s best private schools in medicine.

“Always in the back of my mind was the idea to try to practice here in the United States,” he says. 

In the Dominican, medical school graduates are required to serve one year of public service known as “pasantia.” In 1997, Santos was assigned to a beautiful, remote town in the mountains, Los Martinez, where he became the only doctor for about 1500 people.

“I did everything,” he recalls. “Cuts, sutures, addressing obesity and diabetes, cleaning ear wax, even being a psychologist!”

In that same small town, the Peace Corps had sent a volunteer, an American from Massachusetts. That was fateful; the two would marry and raise three children.

Santos needed to pass a series of boards to qualify for a US medical residency. The main stumbling block was linguistic not medical, comprehending complex terms. He kept studying, and by 1999 was granted a visa to come to the United States. He worked at the counter in a CVS, medical assistant and phlebotomist at Mass General, then passed the boards and won a residency in Chicago – a long way from Bani.

Chicago also is a long way from Massachusetts, and the new doctor’s wife wanted to be closer to family. “Cape Cod seemed like the best choice,” Santos says. In 2005, Cape Cod Hospital offered him his first job after residency as a “hospitalist,” physician in charge of patients admitted, overseeing care until discharge. 

“This is always acute care,” says Santos. “I love the work, but for me there was something missing. I wanted more consistency, to get to know my patients better over a longer term. So I thought that perhaps I would try a place like a rehabilitation center.”

His hospital schedule was five days on, five off, giving him time to try another health care approach with the hospital’s blessing.

“I found exactly what I was looking for at Broad Reach and Liberty Commons,” Santos remembers. “It is a different kind of medicine, more preventive, deeper one-on-one connections.”

Dr. Santos has joined a practice in Yarmouth as a primary care provider, still affiliated with Cape Cod Hospital but no longer a hospitalist. Private practice allows him to continue to grow in his capacity as Associate Medical Director.

A young man from Bani is fulfilling his dreams.