AAMC Fellowship

TTUHSC El Paso Neurology Chair Chosen for AAMC’s Council of Deans Fellowship

Salvador Cruz-Flores, M.D., is one of six faculty physicians in the U.S. tapped for the prestigious program

One of the foremost neurologists in our Borderplex is among six selected nationwide to be part of an exceptional fellowship program with the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Salvador Cruz-Flores, M.D., M.P.H.

Salvador Cruz-Flores, M.D., M.P.H., professor and founding chair of the Department of Neurology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, began his AAMC’s Council of Deans Fellowship earlier this year. The fellowship is designed for senior faculty members who are interested in understanding and being prepared for deanships in the near future. Through the fellowship, Dr. Cruz-Flores has been paired with dean mentors who he will work with and visit throughout the year. His selection is an example for Hispanic physicians and medical students throughout our region.

“The fellowship prepares us to understand what a medical school dean’s job is and the different types of administrative and academic models through exposure at various campuses around the country,” Dr. Cruz-Flores said. “As a chair of neurology, I recognize there are few in my position who are Hispanic, or of any minority. These groups are truly underrepresented in leadership positions in medical schools across the U.S. If my selection for the fellowship shows TTUHSC El Paso physicians and students, from underrepresented groups, that it can be done, then that’s my role.”

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center along the U.S.-Mexico border designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care leaders, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students. Currently, less than 6% of physicians in the U.S. identify as Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Dr. Cruz-Flores attended medical school at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico, where he also completed residencies in internal medicine and neurology followed by a neurology residency and stroke/neurocritical care fellowship at Saint Louis University. He joined the TTUHSC El Paso Department of Neurology in 2013 and has provided neurological and neuro-critical care services at the university’s affiliated hospitals ever since. In 2021, he was named executive councilor for the Association of University Professors of Neurology and in 2022 member of the Board of Directors of the American Neurological Association.

In addition to his role at TTUHSC El Paso, Dr. Cruz-Flores is finishing his tenure as chief of staff at University Medical Center of El Paso, leading the stroke and neuroscience team. He was instrumental in helping UMC establish our region’s first Mobile Stroke Unit, a specialized vehicle designed to provide rapid response to stroke victims throughout El Paso. Under his tenure, UMC became the first and only El Paso hospital to be designated a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission, providing the highest-level stroke treatment available.

As a faculty member of the Foster School of Medicine, he is also a practicing neurologist with Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso, the medical practice of the Foster School of Medicine.

As part of his participation in the Council of Deans Fellowship, Dr. Cruz-Flores said he is expected to work on a leadership project. As a representative of TTUHSC El Paso and the Borderplex, he is excited to take on any tasks accompanying the fellowship.

“Although I’m not looking to become a dean at this moment, part of preparing for a leadership role is learning how to be a problem-solver and resolve conflicts that may come up in a medical school,” Dr. Cruz-Flores said. “Those skills can always benefit myself, the colleagues I work with and the students who come through the Department of Neurology.”

Founded in 1876, the AAMC is a nonprofit focused on improving the level of health care everywhere by concentrating on academic medicine, research and community collaborations.

TTUHSC El Paso serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. Since 2012, the university has graduated 1,851 physicians, nurses and biomedical researchers. It will soon add dental school graduates to its alumni. Providing access to advanced education encourages graduates from the border region to work locally as health care providers – a critical need because El Paso County is designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area.