Department of Anesthesiology - El Paso

Welcome to the Department of Anesthesiology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso Texas. Our Department offers an outstanding advanced and categorical residency training program. Our residents will gain clinical experience at both University Medical Center and the new El Paso Children’s Hospital.

The new hospital will also house the Labor and Delivery / Mother Baby Unit, which will have 60 post-partum bedrooms, 16 L&D rooms and a 15 bassinet nursery unit. We look forward to the opening of the El Paso Children's Hospital when it opens in the Spring of 2012 where our residents will train in the new, state-of-the-art medical facility. I encourage you to learn more about our Medical Center on the website http://www.umcelpaso.org.

Residents will benefit from this exciting time of innovation, growth, and development in the department and at our affiliated institutions. Our Department continues to develop research and clinical care programs in many areas such as the neurosciences, pain medicine, obstetric anesthesiology, critical care medicine, cardiac anesthesiology, pediatric anesthesiology, and regional anesthesia. Our excellent educational program is enhanced through our faculty members’ research in educational methods. This will include experiences at the Advanced Teaching and Assessment in Clinical Simulation (ATACS Center at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine) where our residents will have frequent educational sessions. Through the University Medical Center our residents will receive broad, comprehensive exposure to practices encompassing all aspects of anesthesiology. Instruction, guidance, and mentorship come from enthusiastic faculty members with a wide variety of backgrounds and wide-ranging interests and skills.

Graduates of Texas Tech University's Anesthesiology Residency Program will thrive. We sincerely hope that many will become leaders in academic anesthesiology departments and community practices. Building on excellence in clinical education, we are confident that our graduates will become consummate clinical anesthesiologists and that they will be prepared to assume leadership roles in guiding our exciting and vibrant specialty through the ever-changing health care environment. This is the perfect time to become a part of history in one of the most under-served communities in the country.

These are some of the reasons TTUHSC in El Paso is unique:

Faculty: The last year has been one of remarkable growth and rejuvenation of our faculty. Our faculty is comprised of individuals who are deeply involved in clinical care, research and resident education. They play a prominent role in the Medical School.

Pain management: We have developed one of the most active and sophisticated pain medicine programs in the Southwest. Our Acute Pain Service serves 15-20 patients per day and our Chronic Pain Center will deal with all aspects of chronic pain, including fluoroscopically-guided interventional procedures. Residents will participate fully in both the Acute Pain and Chronic Pain services.

Critical Care Medicine: We are opening a state-of-the-art Neuroscience ICU on May 1, 2010 where our future residents will get excellent experience in management of the neurologically ill patients in addition to their clinical rotations in the Surgical, Medical and Pediatric ICU’s.

Pediatrics: The cases at University Medical Center (over 20%) involve children. These cases range from preemies to teenagers, and involve every kind of major and minor surgical procedure. TTUHSC along with UMC anticipate that the El Paso Children's Hospital will open in the Spring of 2012.

Trauma: University Medical Center is the only Level 1 trauma center within 275 miles and cares for the most severely injured patients imaginable, ranging from motor vehicle accidents to farm-related injuries. Finally, we are in the forefront of border health issues.

Community: Finally, El Paso is one of the Southwest’s best-kept secrets. In 2009, the city was ranked as the second safest city in America with a population greater than 500,000. Recently Men’s Health magazine rated El Paso as the second “happiest” city in America.