TTUHSC School of Medicine at El Paso
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Department of Family and Community Medicine

Welcome from the Chair


Mary C. Spalding, M.D.

Welcome to the Texas Tech El Paso Family Practice Residency Program Information Brochure. This Residency Program has been continuously accredited since 1975 and has matured into an education experience rich in clinical exposure, bicultural emphasis, and leadership in US-Mexico Border Health clinical and research opportunities.

Our new Family Practice Center embraces a 24,000 square foot practice site for Residents, medical students, and Family Practice faculty. It features a large procedure area for colposcopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, vasectomies and other procedures, a behavioral science consultation room. There are four resident offices complete with areas for each of our 24 residents including computers with e-mail and Windows capability. It also houses the Department of Family Medicine administration area.

We are located adjacent to our teaching hospital outpatient lab, radiology and pharmacy sites and have been the "Neighborhood Family Practice" of Northeast El Paso for over 20 years. Our goal is to train and enable our Residents to become the best possible Family Practitioners that they can be. We plan to continue our record of a 99% passage rate on the American Board of Family Practice Certifying Exam.

We strive to continue to demonstrate excellence in patient care and research in the new millennium. We invite you to investigate the attributes of our program, of El Paso , and of Texas Tech, all of which are exceptional. Hard work, clinical competency and cultural sensitivity are not for everyone. If they are for you, we challenge you to pursue these goals with us.

Mary C. Spalding, M.D.
Regional Department Chair

Why Choose the El Paso Campus of Texas Tech?

Extensive exposure to culture and issues unique to the US-Mexico Border

New 24,000 sq. ft. Family Practice center with large procedure room, resident offices equipped with computers and lab, x-ray and pharmacy on the premises

Our state-of-the-art program is led by an outstanding faculty . Providing well-balanced ambulatory and hospital experience, as well as opportunities in advanced obstetrics.

Training at Thomason General Hospital and William Beaumont Army Medical Center as well as with urban preceptors and at rural clinical sites.

An ever-expanding educational community consisting of:

Located in the friendly city of El Paso , nestled at the foot of the southern end of the Rockies and featuring:

El Paso is located at the Western-most point of Texas. Along the city's border, the boundaries of the United States and Mexico and the American states of Texas and New Mexico and the Mexican state of Chihuahua all meet. It is in this geographic setting that one finds the unique fusion of old and new, of history made by cowboys and conquistadors, and of traditions that reflect both American and Mexican cultures. With El Paso's multi-cultural heritage, the resident physician will find it offers a unique location for becoming acquainted with Border Health issues.

The city has grown from its sleepy, small town beginnings to a major metropolitan area of over 700,000 inhabitants, the majority being of Hispanic descent. It is located adjacent to the city of Juarez, Mexico, which boasts a population of over a million.

El Paso is located at the base of the Franklin Mountains, a southern segment of the Rockies, and along the banks of the Rio Grande. Known as the "Sun City" the sun shines 350 days a year on average, making it an ideal place for year-round golf, hunting, and hiking, and for skiing in the nearby mountains of New Mexico. Visitors flying or driving into the city during the nighttime hours enjoy the spectacular image of a star, consisting of thousands of light bulbs, on the mountains and shining over the Sun City.

Centuries-old Spanish missions, art museums, theaters, opera, the symphony, outstanding Mexican and international cuisine, Mariachi bands, rodeos and country and western dancing, all play a part in the mosaic of El Paso.

Its citizens enjoy the cultural life provided by the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Pro-Musica Orchestra, the El Paso Opera, and various theater groups. El Paso is a favorite stop for traveling Broadway musical companies. Museums include the El Paso Museum of Art, Insights El Paso Sciences Museum, El Paso Holocaust Museum & Study Center, War Eagles Air Museum, Southwestern Museum of Cultural History, and the Centennial Museum.

Professional sports fans enjoy the action provided by the El Paso Buzzards Ice Hockey Team, the El Paso Patriots Soccer Team, the El Paso Scorpions Rugby Team and the El Paso Diablos, a farm team of the Arizona Diamond- backs Baseball Team. The University of Texas at El Paso Miners give college sports fans plenty of action with their basketball and football teams. The Sun Bowl football game, held every year during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season, is televised nationally and is part of the Sun Carnival, the city' official celebration of its continuous sunshine status.

In addition, the following are nearby recreational sites:

Juarez, Mexico, within walking distance of El Paso, for shopping, restaurants, and night life

Ruidoso, New Mexico, situated high in the Lincoln National Forest, for skiing, hiking, camping, fine dining, and horse racing

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in Carlsbad, New Mexico

Silver City, New Mexico and the nearby Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

The NASA Space Museum in Alamogordo, New Mexico

White Sands National Monument in White Sands, NM

Elephant Butte Dam, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, for boating, fishing, water skiing, and camping.

THE MISSION

To excel in the education and training of medical students and residents in Family and Community Medicine.

To excel in providing primary health care to our community, including the promotion of health and prevention of disease.

To excel in scholarship which advances the knowledge, delivery, and teaching of Family and Community Medicine.

Residency Program at the El Paso Campus of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has a 25-year history of training family physicians to care for families and communities. A fully accredited 3-year program, we offer eight positions each year. The program is designed to train Board Certified family physicians who can:

  1. Provide personal medical attention to the broad range of health concerns that occur in all phases of life.
  2. Serve as an advocate for the patient in the health care system.
  3. Assume responsibility for continuous and comprehensive care of patients.
    Confidently enter any type of family practice setting.
  4. Our program's philosophy is based on learner-directed professional development. We expect each resident to develop his/her own personal goals and objectives for the three-year training experience. In turn, it is our responsibility to help them reach those goals and objectives through planning and careful individualized guidance.

State-of-the Art Learning Experience

The state-of-the-art program provides well-balanced ambulatory and hospital experience. Our residents follow their panel of patients in a continuity clinic environment throughout their three years with us. Clinical experiences include trauma, chronic diseases, acute care, a high incidence of infectious diseases no longer common in other U.S. areas and other Border Health issues. Concurrently, the residents provide family practice in-patient services at Thomason Hospital, the primary teaching hospital for the program. We have extensive experience available in obstetrics with a high volume of labor and delivery, including a special three-month rotation in the third year that includes operative obstetrics.

A Varied Training Experience

Our residents also train at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, with community preceptors and at various clinics, some serving the underprivileged areas of the city. Teaching affiliations with nursing home and other community institutions and agencies afford broad opportunities for the pursuit of individual career interest, including rural health care. For example, inhabitants of colonias (unincorporated, poor neighborhoods without running water) are also services by our residents as part of their training. In addition, there is opportunity to rotate at the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation located in nearby New Mexico.

Bi-national Exposure

Opportunities to provide health-care services in Juarez, Mexico, El Paso's sister city, are provided through the efforts of the Texas Tech Christian Medical and Dental Society. Our residents learn first-hand the healthcare challenges of those living in a developing country.

Continuity of Patient Care and Procedures

The brand-new Family Practice Clinic serves as the focus of the resident's training. The community-based practice offers residents the opportunity to follow their own panel of families throughout their training experience. Here they also learn procedures such as flexible sigmoidoscopy, vasectomy, colposcopy, circumcision, typanometry and removal of skin lesions. In addition, the training includes a strong behavioral health component and the clinic is equipped with a behavioral science consultation room.

Training Facilities

Family Practice Center

The new 24,000-square foot clinic is located in northeast El Paso. It features a bright and sunny environment provided through innovative architectural design and accents, spacious and pleasant reception and waiting areas, large windows and skylights. There are four nursing stations, 24 exam rooms, a procedure room and a behavioral science consultation room, all helping to provide efficient and smooth-running patient care. In addition, the clinic offers a pharmacy, laboratory and radiology suite operated through Thomason Hospital.

For education purposes the center features a large classroom, a physician-resident consulting room and a library area. Resident enjoy individual office areas complete with computers that offer access to medical information on the internet as well as Windows software and e-mail services.

The Hospitals

Thomason General Hospital, a 346-bed facility, is the largest public hospital on the United States-Mexico border and the teaching hospital for Texas Tech. It is a nationally-recognized top-performing medical center, having earned awards and honors for excellence in patient care. William Beaumont Army Medical Center is the primary hospital in the area serving active duty military personnel and their families. It has a bed capacity of over 200 and is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

Application Procedure

We look forward to receiving your application for admission into our Residency Program. We receive applications solely through the Electronic Resident Application Service (ERAS) provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges.