Surgery Department
Faculty
 | Alan H. Tyroch, M.D.Regional Chairman Alan H. Tyroch, MD is Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, Texas. Dr. Tyroch is Board Certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. Dr. Tyroch is a graduate of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, TX, where he received his M.D. Degree. He is a graduate of the Phoenix Integrated Surgical Residency Program in Phoenix, AZ. After graduation, he completed a fellowship in Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at the University of California in Fresno, CA in 1997. Dr. Tyroch participates in the following professional memberships: American College of Surgeons (Fellow), American College of Surgeons-South Texas Chapter, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Texas Surgical Society, Southwestern Surgical Congress, American Trauma Society, Pan-American Trauma Society and Western Surgical Association. He also serves on these committees: Governor's EMS & Trauma Advisory Council-Trauma Systems Committee (2002-present), and American College of Surgeons South Texas Committee on Trauma (2000-present). He is the current Chief of Staff at Thomason Hospital. |
 | Steve Dougherty, M.D.Professor Dr. Dougherty was born and educated in California. He graduated from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine in 1973. He went on to the University of Minnesota where he did his internship, General Surgery residency and Special Fellowship in Surgical Infectious Disease. He was board certified in General Surgery in 1984. He came to Texas Tech, Department of Surgery in 1982 as a Clinical Instructor. Dr. Dougherty has been exemplary through the years with his research and publications in the field of surgical infections and since 1995 has held the position of Professor of Surgery and Microbiology at Texas Tech. He has been a guest lecturer in Surgical Infectious Diseases across this country and in Europe. In addition, he has authored several book chapters to include an edition of the American College of Surgeons: Care of the Surgical Patient, to name only one. He is currently actively involved in Texas Tech Administration's of the IRB and Faculty Development (to name a couple) and maintains his focus on education of students and residents. |
 | Susan F. McLean, M.D.Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery Dr. McLean joined the Department of Surgery, Texas Tech University faculty in 1998. She is a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia. She took her Surgery Internship and General Surgery Residency at Brown University and graduated in 1994. She went on to a Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and completed all requirements in 1995. She stayed on as an Instructor in Surgery for one year; then to the Mayo Medical School and Clinic Foundation in Minnesota until 1998. She is Board Certified in both General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. She also is actively involved in ongoing research and is working towards her Masters in Public Health at the University of Texas (Houston). Doctor McLean serves as the Medical Student Program Director for Surgery and takes special interest in promoting special educational activities for the medical students assigned to Surgery. |
 | William T. Miller, M.D.Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery William T. Miller, M.D., FACS, Plastic Surgery Division at Texas Tech-El Paso. Dr. Miller graduated from Texas Technological college in 1962 (now Texas Tech University) and Baylor College of Medicine in 1966. He did an Internship at the University of Iowa in 1967, followed by 2 years in the United States Navy from 1967-1969. He did General Surgery at St. Pauls Hospital in Dallas in 1969-70 and finished General Surgery at St. Josephs Hospital in Houston in 1972. He did three years of Plastic Surgery at Baylor Medical School finishing in 1975. He became Board Certified in Plastic Surgery in 1976. He is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Miller taught 16 years at Baylor as an Assistant Professor and at UT Houston as an Instructor prior to joining Texas Tech in 1972. Dr. Miller's professional memberships include the Harris County Medical Society, Texas Medical Association, Houston Society of Surgeons and Plastic Surgeons. He served as President of the Houston Society of Plastic Surgeons from 1989-1990. He is also a member of the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons and a member of the Academic Chairman of Plastic Surgery. He was a founding member and later the president of the El Paso Society of Plastic Surgeons. He also serves as a member of the Texas Society of Surgeons. He served as the head of the Baylor Plastic Surgery Alumni Society for eight years. |
 | Miller F. Rhodes, M.D.Clinical Assistant Professor Miller F. Rhodes, MD, is an Otolaryngologist and Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, Texas. He is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He is active in teaching residents and medical students. His special interest is chronic ear disease. Dr. Rhodes is a graduate of Meharry Medical College where he received his M.D. Degree with honors. He is a graduate of the Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in ENT Residency where he also did his internship. He is a retired Military Colonel who served in Korea and the USA. Highest decoration was Legion of Merit, and he is a member of the South Carolina State University ROTC Hall of Fame. |
 | Edward C. Saltzstein, M.D.Professor Edward C. Saltzstein, MD, is Professor of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso and Medical Director of the University Breast Care Center. He is Board Certified in General Surgery. He was educated at Yale University and at Northwestern University Medical School. He served his internship and residency in surgery at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. In 1977, Dr. Saltzstein was appointed Professor and Regional Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Director of the Surgical Program, a position he held until September 1, 2002. Dr. Saltzstein is active in the American College of Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, the Society of Surgery for the Alimentary Tract, the American Society of Breast Disease, and other professional organizations. He is the author of 65 articles published in professional surgical journals. Dr. Saltzstein developed a plan for the creation of the University Breast Care Center as a comprehensive care facility for patients with breast disease. |
 | Jackson M. Ombaba, M.D., Ph.DAssistant Professor Jackson M. Ombaba, M.D, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso. Dr. Ombaba is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio where he received his M.D. degree. He went on to the State University of New York at Buffalo where he did his internship and general surgery residency. Dr. Ombaba has a wide experience in bench research in analytical-biochemistry while working as a Professor at the University of Massachusetts and then at Jackson State University, Jackson, MI. Dr. Ombaba is a member of the American College of Surgeons with certifications in Advance Trauma Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support. He specializes in the surgical treatment of trauma and general surgery patients. Dr. Ombaba's interest is in minimally invasive surgery, especially laparoscopic cholecystectomy, appendectomy, repair of abdominal wall hernias, repair of inguinal hernias and hand assisted colectomy |
 | Donald E. Meier, M.D.Professor of Clinical Surgery Donald E. Meier, M.D. is a Professor of Surgery for the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Science Center at El Paso. He is Board Certified in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery. Dr. Meier is a graduate of the University of Tennessee where he received his M.D. Degree in 1971. He completed his general surgery residency and pediatric surgery fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School Affiliated Hospitals. He served two years in the United States Army. Dr. Meier was a full-time surgical educator in Nigeria for fifteen years of his career and a full-time faculty member at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School for ten years. He was the Chief of Surgery at the Children's Medical Center of Dallas before relocating to El Paso in 2003. Dr. Meier's major professional interest is in the area of surgical education, both nationally and internationally. In addition to his teaching activities in El Paso , he serves several times each year as an international visiting professor of pediatric surgery in various medical schools throughout Africa and Eastern Europe . |
 | William W. Spurbeck, M.D.Clinical Assistant Professor William W. Spurbeck, MD is a Clinical Assistant Professor for the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso. He is Board Certified in General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery. Dr. Spurbeck is a graduate of the Texas Tech University where he received his M.D. degree in 1996. He completed his General Surgery Residency and Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at the University of Tennessee in Memphis in 2005. He also completed a two-year Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital , investigating novel strategies utilizing gene therapy approaches for the delivery of anti-angiogenic agents. Dr. Spurbeck's interests include minimally invasive surgery, pediatric oncology, and anorectal malformations. |
 | Daniel Lacerte, M.D.Assistant Professor Dr. Daniel Lacerte is from Canada . He completed his neurosurgery training at Laval University in Quebec City and McGill University in Montreal . He then pursued a fellowship in functional neurosurgery and epilepsy surgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute. He co-founded the comprehensive epilepsy surgery program at Laval University in 1993. Dr. Lacerte has also developed interest in minimally invasive skull base surgery (including trans-nasal endoscopic pituitary surgery), and in surgery of eloquent cortex (including awake craniotomy and surgical removal of lesions in eloquent areas including speck areas). He is presently the Chief of the Neurosurgery Division at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso . |
 | Fadi Hanbali, M.D.Assistant Professor Dr. Fadi Hanbali is from Lebanon . He completed his neurosurgery training at the American University of Beirut-Medical Center in Beirut . To further his training, he sub-specialized in complex spine surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. Thereafter, he pursued another fellowship in Neurosurgical Oncology at M.D. Anderson Center in Houston, Texas . In 2001, Dr. Hanbali began practicing at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, where he worked until joining Texas Tech University HSC in February 2006. His interests include the management of primary and metastatic tumors of the brain and spine, degenerative diseases of the spine, and minimally invasive spine surgery. |