TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Family and Community Medicine

Department of Family and Community Medicine

Oscar Noriega, Residency Director

Welcome

Welcome to the Texas Tech El Paso Family Medicine Residency Program Web Site. This Residency Program has been continuously accredited since 1975 and has matured into an educational experience rich in clinical exposure, bicultural emphasis, and leadership in US-Mexico Border Health clinical and research opportunities. Our goal is to train and enable our Residents to become the best possible Family Physicians that they can be. We plan to continue our rate of high passage on the American Board of Family Practice Certifying Exam, and of placing well trained Family Physicians to practice anywhere, be it Far West Texas and New Mexico or any other area of the United States.

El Paso is a great place to live, with a low cost of living and low crime rate.  Our community is undergoing a period of tremendous growth, with the economic engines associated with both the new Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and with the Fort Bliss expansion of 37,000 troops and their families to El Paso.  There are special opportunities in El Paso!

Texas Tech Family Medicine has been the "Neighborhood Family Practice" of northeast El Paso for over 30 years.  Our Family Medicine Center is a 24,000 square foot practice site for Family Medicine Faculty, Residents and medical students, and is located 11 miles north of our teaching hospital, University Medical Center. It features four patient care areas, a large precepting room, a procedure area for colposcopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, vasectomies and other procedures, a behavioral science consultation room, a Resident Lounge, a Chief Resident office and typical practice areas (reception area, phone room,  business office and medical records).  This practice implemented an electronic medical record in 2007.  It also houses the Department of Family Medicine Faculty offices, a large classroom and the Administration area.

University Medical Center built a new outpatient facility, next door to our clinic, for advanced imaging, pharmacy and laboratory sites, a rehabilitation unit, and a Pain Care Center.  This facility opened in Spring 2009 and contains services vital for our practice, including our new Sports Medicine and Musculoskeletal services.  Family Medicine also cares for many patients residing in the Texas State Veterans Home, located across the street from the Family Medicine Center.  In addition, the Family Medicine Department manages two clinics in high poverty, low health care access areas of El Paso county. Some of our most exciting research has been done at these “Community Partnership Clinics.”

Please browse our web site.  Meet the friendly, experienced faculty who love to teach, our close knit group of residents who are a well respected and successful team at University Medical Center, and our practice and administrative staff who give excellent patient care and educational support.  Investigate our areas of growth, including the Sports Medicine Fellowship plans.

We strive to continue demonstrating excellence in education, patient care and research as the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center grows. We invite you to investigate the exceptional attributes of our program, of El Paso, and of Texas Tech.  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.

Why Choose the El Paso Campus of Texas Tech?

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

Attractive 24,000 sq. ft. Family Medicine Center with a large procedure room.

Residents lounge 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 University Medical Center 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 750,000 inhabitants, the majority being of Hispanic descent. It is located adjacent to the city of Juarez, Mexico, which boasts a population of over 1.2 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 over 300 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 member of the American Association of Independent Baseball. 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.


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 University Medical Center, 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.

Continuity of Patient Care and Procedures

The Texas Tech Family Medicine Center 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 Medicine Center

The 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.   The Family Medicine Center initiated an electronic medical record in 2007.  In addition, the center offers a pharmacy, laboratory and radiology suite operated through University Medical Center.

For education purposes the center features a large classroom, a physician-resident consulting room and a library area. Residents enjoy a lounge of their own design on premises.

The Hospitals

University Medical Center, a 346-bed facility, is the largest public hospital on the United States-Mexico border and the teaching hospital for Texas Tech.  It is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the area, and has a Level Three Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  University Medical Center 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.