Puerto Rican Rapper PJ Sin Suela Combats Doctor Shortage, One House Call at a Time
Puerto Rican rapper Dr. Pedro Juan Vázquez, better known by his stage name PJ Sin Suela, is making a difference beyond the music stage. The 34-year-old artist continues to practice as a doctor, helping to address the critical shortage of medical professionals on the island.
While Vázquez is famous for his music, fans are also getting to know him for his medical expertise, as he frequently visits patients door-to-door across Puerto Rico. Despite his success in music, he remains committed to using his medical degree to serve communities in need, especially during a healthcare crisis that has left the island struggling with power outages and a significant exodus of doctors.
The numbers are staggering. A 2023 report by the Center for a New Economy revealed that Puerto Rico lost over 8,600 doctors in the last decade, leaving less than 10,000 medical professionals on the island. The situation is only expected to worsen.
“We’re seeing a huge wave of young professionals leaving Puerto Rico,” Vázquez told the AP. “The crisis here is much bigger than people realize.”
To combat this, Vázquez spends time traveling from San Juan to rural areas at least once a week, delivering medical care to communities still grappling with the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, and economic struggles.
But when he’s not practicing medicine, PJ Sin Suela is lighting up the music scene with songs that focus on social inequality, poverty, and gun violence. In his track Bullets Cry, he tackles the territory’s violence, rapping, “A bullet is flying, lost like a child… falling into a skull, without any kind of justice.” Another track, We Are More, addresses Puerto Rico’s economic woes, shedding light on the struggles of public servants like teachers and nurses.
Born in the Bronx and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Vázquez’s journey has been a blend of medicine and music. After moving between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland, he completed his medical studies in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and became a doctor in 2015. His music career took off in 2018 with the hit What Is Your Plan?, a collaboration with Bad Bunny and Ñejo that made him a household name across Latin America. See it below>>
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Vázquez returned to medicine full-time, working in a hospital in Ponce. While some colleagues were skeptical of the rapper-turned-doctor, it didn’t take long for him to prove that his commitment to medicine was real. “People realized quickly that I wasn’t joking. I’m great at what I do,” he said.
Now, whether he’s performing on stage or making house calls, PJ Sin Suela is using his unique position to shine a light on the challenges facing Puerto Rico, bringing healing both through his art and his medical practice.
