--Courtesy of Oxy Athletics--
Since graduating from Occidental in 2013 with a B.A. in Chemistry, Pedro Aldape has worked as an environmental chemist for one year before deciding to pursue a career in healthcare. Aldape was accepted to the College of Podiatric Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, where he graduated at the top of his class in 2019. He went on to complete a rigorous three year surgical residency at Chino Valley Medical Center/Kaiser Central Valley in 2022 focusing on foot and ankle reconstructive surgery and trauma. Aldape is currently an attending surgical podiatrist at Kaiser Permanente Stockton/Modesto where his practice focuses on foot and ankle reconstruction and trauma. He will soon be moving back to Southern California to join Kaiser Permanente in the San Bernardino Region to continue his career.
Aldape chose Oxy because of the small class size, the academic rigor, and the opportunity to play collegiate baseball in Southern California. He grew up in the Los Angeles area and went to a high school where the class size was relatively small, and enjoyed having close relationships with teachers and classmates. He was excited to have those opportunities at the collegiate level and it ended up being as great of an experience as he had hoped.
As a student-athlete at Oxy, Aldape was able to develop important skills that carried him through medical school and remain with him now as a surgeon. He learned the importance of working with a team of people to achieve the same goal, how to juggle multiple tasks and manage time, and that it is ok to lean on other people for support when faced with adversity.
Most of his favorite memories from Oxy were off the field. For example, every year the team would return in January a week or two prior to the rest of the student body for the Baseball camp, and as grueling, physically and mentally taxing as it was, they also got to spend a lot of time together as a team. Along with the trauma bonding, the team would play games and come up with skits to pass the time. On the field, Aldape’s favorite memories were from his junior year where the culture of their program changed.
“The entire lineup was consistent. Scott Hong, Logan Allen, and myself would terrorize our opposition at the top and middle of the lineup and our pitching staff was excellent leading to the first winning season for Occidental Baseball in a couple of decades.” - Pedro Aldape
College and Professional awards:
Occidental College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee Class of 2019
ABCA Second Team All West Region at 1B – 2012
D3baseball.com Third Team All West Region at 1B – 2012
Second Team All SCIAC at 1B – 2012
Team Defensive Player of the Year 2010
2013 SCIAC baseball All Tournament Team OF
Professional awards/accolades
Pi Delta National Podiatric Honors Society 2019
Valedictorian – Western University Of Health Sciences, College of Podiatric Medicine
American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons – Division Scholar 2017
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