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Community Profile > El Paso, Texas
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South on the Border
In El Paso, Texas, the weather is warm, the cultural mix
is congenial and physician opportunities are multiplying.
There’s an aura of excitement these days in the halls, offices and classrooms of the
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso. To summarize the reason in a few words, German Hernandez, MD, says, “You don’t get to start a new medical school very often.”
He’s one of a growing group of teaching/practicing physicians who will be ready for
classes when the school opens in July with a class of 40 students.
The new Paul L. Foster School of Medicine is actually an addition to the school
that has been accepting third- and fourth-year medical students for about 25
years. “Typically,” adds Hernandez, “students have gone first to Texas Tech in Lubbock (the main campus) to get their
basic science education. But from there they have split up for their last two
years. Some stay in Lubbock, some go to Amarillo and about a third come to El
Paso.” Now medical students will be able to spend all four years at the El Paso venue.
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As proof, he cites “an exciting and innovative curriculum that puts students in contact with
clinical practitioners and clinical studies from the get-go. But aside from the
new buildings and the heavy emphasis on teaching by the physicians (at least 70
percent of one’s professional time is allocated to teaching, with up to 30 percent for patient
care), is such state-of-the-art equipment as simulation equipment that I didn’t even know existed.”
Another plus: The school will be based on the Calgary Model. “Traditionally, first- and second-year students don’t see patients,” says Lisa Ruley, the school spokeswoman. “But here they will be attending actor-patients simulating all different
situations.” Current plans also cover nine residency programs, with more to come.
Bilingual opportunities
Another serendipity different from most if not all other medical schools: “Because we’re on the border, there are a lot of Spanish-speaking patients. The students
will have about a four-week Spanish immersion course before they start their
actual medical curriculum.”
The advantages radiate into the community, Baston points out. “Having a school within the city is hopefully going to increase the number of
doctors here. What’s interesting is that since I have been here and talking to the general
community, when I tell them I’m working at Paul Foster they seem very excited that the school is here.”
They’re excited for good reason. El Paso is the twin city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico,
just across the Rio Grande River. In fact, “The border is just down the street from City Hall, and some people see the two
cities as one,” says city spokeswoman Juliet Lozano. As one El Pasoan puts it, “If you make a wrong turn, you end up in Juarez.”
Medical care needs are great, with a combined El Paso/Juarez population of more
than 2 million. Many Juarez citizens seek medical care on the U.S. side of the
border, and a surging incidence of diabetes and obesity in both cities has
created a greater and greater need for physicians. Hernandez and Baston—and more than a few city leaders—hope that some will opt for a congenial life in an even more congenial climate.
Some El Pasoans delight in talking about rare occasions when snow might cover
the ground in the morning, then melt in the afternoon when the temperature
rises into the 60s.
Warm and welcoming
Climate in fact played a key role in attracting Augustine Eleje, MD. Born in
Nigeria, Eleje earned bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery, interned and practiced there until coming to
the U.S. in 1990. New Jersey was his first destination: He completed his
residency there in internal medicine and pediatrics, helped run the program
until 2003, and was also medical director for a nursing home. But after 16
years in Newark, and more than enough winters in the north, “I started thinking about moving to warmer climates,” he recalls. “I figured Texas would be a good place. Not Houston or Dallas; they’re too big.” But El Paso was the “average size city that I needed, a nice place to raise a family.”
Another consideration: “I needed a place that needed doctors and one where I could get up and running
quickly. I like to work, and I like to make money so that the kids can go to
college. (Two of his four children are now students at Baylor University.) As a
professor, the compensation wasn’t going to cut it.”
In a welcoming gesture, Eleje’s sponsor, Las Palmas Medical Center, one of the city’s six major hospitals, eased him into his new practice by helping with startup
costs. In five months, his practice was showing a profit, and, he says, “I could pull my own weight.”
Easy transition
Authorization numbers for Medicare and Medicaid were another story. Even though
he’d had the certification in New Jersey, he had to reapply in Texas. The problem,
as every peripatetic practitioner knows, was that he could draw no
reimbursement until the paper work was finished, but at that point the payments
were retroactive. In eight months, he was in the system. Contrasted with his previous experience, the Texas
bureaucracy acted with lightning speed. Today, he’s affiliated with four hospitals—Las Palmas, Del Sol Medical Center (now combined as a regional healthcare system
and operated by HCA), Providence Memorial Hospital, and Sierra Medical Center
(linked as the Sierra providence Health Network under the aegis of Tenet
Healthcare).
Hernandez, a nephrologist, and Baston are employed by Thomason Hospital, which
is affiliated with the medical school. Baston, who earned a degree in chemical
engineering before going on to medical school, combines both disciplines as a
specialist in blood, transfusion medicine, coagulation, clotting, and bleeding
disorders.
Thomason is the city’s sole publicly owned and operated facility and is in the midst of a $154
million expansion program. In an unusual arrangement, a new tower will include
facilities for women and infants, but its top five floors will be leased,
separately licensed and operated by an independent entity as a children’s hospital. However, city leaders have a much grander vision for the future in
which the only medical school on the U.S.-Mexico border and the hospital will
become the nucleus for a system similar to Houston’s expansive healthcare complex. They plan to call the El Paso counterpart the
Medical Center of the Americas.
