Emergency Medicine
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso is the fastest growing medical school in Texas. Within the surroundings of well-equipped clinics, hospitals, and classrooms, highly qualified faculty and staff prepare residents and medical students for practice in the 21st century.
Located on the United States/Mexico border, the Health Sciences Center offers a multicultural setting that adds a dimension of pathology associated with less-developed countries. Residents who thrive on diversity will find that Texas Tech's educational experiences will prepare them for a successful practice in any environment.
The goal of the Emergency Medicine Residency program is to provide superior patient care and well-rounded resident training. When physicians complete this three-year program, they are capable of working in any Emergency Medicine Department in the world. Fully accredited by the ACGME, the Emergency Medicine (EM) Program accepts applicants directly from medical school as well as those with prior training and/or experience in emergency medicine. Residents are selected through the National Residency Matching Program.
Founded in 1982, the EM Residency Program covers all areas of emergency medicine and all patient groups. Residents have a wide selection of faculty role models to follow for almost any career choice in emergency medicine.
As residents progress through the program, they assume increasing responsibilities in complex, direct patient care. Faculty are present 24 hours a day to assure good patient care and follow up as well as resident support. Residents gain experience in multiple institutional settings with varied patient populations that have a wide diversity of disease and health care needs. Program standards are high and residents are expected to accept their responsibilities and perform procedures commensurate with their abilities. Other equally important components of the residency program are the didactic sessions, readings, conferences, interactive sessions with faculty, and a formal self-study program.
As the only level one trauma center in El Paso, the Texas Tech Emergency Medicine Department handles a major portion of trauma care. In addition, the department supplies all the Medical Direction and Medical Control for El Paso EMS and provides physician direction and sponsorship for the El Paso Poison Control Center.
Texas Tech's proximity to Mexico, which is only a half mile away, gives a broad medical view of many problems rarely seen in other parts of the U.S. Texas Tech physicians have cared for patients with ailments and diseases as diverse as botulism, snake bite, hypothermia, neurocysticercosis, and polio. To facilitate communication with patients who do not speak English, the department offers medical Spanish classes every July for all the residents who need them.