Match Day 2023

89 Foster School of Medicine Students Receive Residency Assignments at Match Day

In a large auditorium on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso campus, the suspense was tangible as a clock on the screen counted down. Holding sealed envelopes containing their future destination, the Foster School of Medicine’s class of 2023 waited for the clock to reach zero.

At 10 a.m. on “Match Day,” Friday, March 17, the 88 members of the Foster School of Medicine class of 2023, and one from the class of 2022, opened their envelopes to see what residency program they were accepted into in El Paso and across the nation. At the same time across the U.S., thousands of graduating medical students opened envelopes to find out where they will continue their medical education.

Of the 89 Foster School of Medicine students that matched on Friday, 14 matched with residencies in El Paso. Of those that matched in El Paso, 13 matched with residencies at TTUHSC El Paso.

Match Day is a nail-biting rite of passage for graduating medical students – and their families – across the U.S. It comes after students have spent the past six months applying to residencies, interviewing and deciding the order in which to rank programs they hope to be matched to.

Between chasing around her 2 ½-year-old daughter, Benny, and getting a quick bite of some fruit, Sophia Hantzopulos was excited to find out where she would be doing her residency. She and her family were thrilled to learn she’d be doing her three-year residency at TTUHSC El Paso’s Department of Pediatrics.

“Being a lifelong El Pasoan, I grew up seeing the need in the region,” Hantzopulos said of getting her medical education at the Foster School of Medicine. “The Foster School of Medicine really uses its position as the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border to bring doctors to a place that's historically underserved. It’s a really important issue that’s very near and dear to my heart. I just wanted to stay here to be trained and give back to the community that got me here in the first place.”

In past years, Foster School of Medicine graduates have matched to residency programs at prestigious institutions, including The Johns Hopkins Hospital, George Washington University, Baylor University, New York University, Mayo Clinic, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. TTUHSC El Paso encourages graduates who match to outside institutions to bring their expertise back to the Borderplex after they complete their training.

Alyssa Salcido, a lifelong El Pasoan, graduated from the Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2018 before being accepted into the Foster School of Medicine. Her introduction to the TTUHSC El Paso campus happened a long time ago, though.

Her mom previously led the Department of Human Resources at the university.

"She worked here when I was in middle school and high school. I would come visit her and I got to see the school grow — I always wanted to come here," Salcido said. "I didn't want to leave El Paso. I love my hometown and this is where I wanted to serve. I've seen the shortage of access to health care in our community and I've volunteered in underserved areas to increase access to health care for the residents there. Staying here and caring for those patients is going to help the community and I hope to continue growing."

Salcido will be doing her residency in TTUHSC El Paso’s Department of Pediatrics.

“I love working with children and just the light and energy that they bring,” she said. “They're so wonderful and it's amazing to experience working with a child from babies all the way to teenagers.”

TTUHSC El Paso offers 22 residency programs throughout El Paso with openings for more than 200 talented medical residents from the Borderplex and across the nation. Residency programs currently offered include emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, OB-GYN, neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology, surgery, orthopaedic surgery and pathology.

Mikaela Brentlinger is one of the first students to match to the new pathology residency program at TTUHSC El Paso. The three-year residency program also includes two medical students who matched from other schools.

“It’s exciting being in the first class because I get to provide input into how things develop. In a way, my voice is going to be heard more and I can be a mentor to any of the new, incoming residents. It’s exciting because everyone is going to rely on our first class to show them the ropes,” Brentlinger said.

The Foster School of Medicine’s Mission

The Foster School of Medicine was established to reduce health disparities in our region by educating culturally competent physicians. In 2008, prior to the opening of the Foster School of Medicine, El Paso County’s average number of direct care physicians per 100,000 people was 75% less than the national average and 37% less than the state average. Today, that physician shortage has been reduced to 60% when compared nationwide and 28% Texas-wide.

The Foster School of Medicine features a medical Spanish requirement which helps students provide culturally competent care during medical school and throughout their careers. It was one of the first medical schools in the U.S. to integrate medical Spanish into its curriculum.

The U.S. Census Bureau predicts a continued climb in the number of Hispanic people in the nation, accounting for 25% of the population in 10 years. However, less than 6% of physicians in the U.S. identify as Hispanic. In 2021-2022, 57% of TTUHSC El Paso graduates, including medical students, identified as Hispanic, diversifying the health care workforce locally and across the nation.

Students at the Foster School of Medicine receive clinical experience within the first year of the curriculum. This is a nontraditional approach among most U.S. medical schools, where students typically begin clinical rotations during the third and fourth years of their medical education.

About Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.

TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso celebrates its 10th anniversary as an independent university within the Texas Tech University System. In a decade, the university has graduated over 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers, and will soon add dentists to its alumni.