As a teenager, Dillon Arango '08, M.D. '13 made the long daily bus ride from his home near Zoo Miami to FIU — with no idea he would one day help write the university's history.
Growing up in South Florida with Colombian roots, he got an early start at FIU through dual enrollment at 16, earned his chemistry degree in 2008, and joined FIU Medicine’s inaugural class in 2009. Location, family ties, a generous Sesana family scholarship and the thrill of building something new all drew him to the nascent college.
“It was exciting to be part of the first class,” Arango recalls. “We got closer to the deans and faculty. It felt like a big deal for FIU and for Miami.”
Yet the pioneer experience came with challenges. As a graduate of a brand-new medical school without an established reputation, he had to convince residency programs that FIU graduates were prepared. And he did. Arango matched at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia—the first in the college to complete an orthopedic surgery residency—then went on to a sports medicine fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, two major Harvard teaching hospitals in Boston, where he treated athletes from the Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins.
In addition to honing his surgical skills, he also built a strong track record in research. Starting at FIU with Dr. John Uribe, chair of orthopedics, Arango focused on ACL research and continued that work through residency, presenting nationally. In 2016, he received the Emerging Leaders Award from the American Orthopaedic Association.
Today, Arango, 38, is back home and giving back to the College of Medicine, serving as a clinical assistant professor and preceptor to medical students. In his clinical practice with Orthopedic Specialists of South Florida, he treats everything from hip fractures in patients over 100 to ACL tears in young athletes, with a focus on restoring mobility and quality of life.
“In orthopedics, we’re not typically saving lives, but we’re saving lifestyles,” he says, echoing a mentor. “You fix a hip, and they’re walking the next day. The impact is immediate and gratifying.”
Looking back, the journey from public buses to the operating room remains humbling. “A kid from Miami, one of five siblings, riding the bus for hours. It’s crazy looking back,” he says.
Now a father of two young daughters, Arango credits his immigrant parents’ sacrifices and FIU’s opportunities for his path. Bilingual and deeply rooted in the community, he connects easily with patients across South Florida. One full-circle moment came when a referring physician turned out to be former preceptor Dr. Nelson Fernandez—whose family Arango now also treats.
“FIU gave me opportunity after opportunity,” he says. “I just want to do good work in the community and make the institution proud.”