He began his nursing career and undergraduate studies at the University of Miami. He obtained his Master of Nurse Anesthesia at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 2002. He received his Doctorate of Nursing Practice at the University of Miami in 2012. His current research focus is drug addiction in anesthesia. Dr. Valdes' article titled, "The Concept of Reentry in the Addicted Anesthesia Provider" was published in the AANA Journal in April 2014.