Welcome Back Splash
Fun, Food and a Splash of School Spirit Mark the Start of the Fall Semester at Texas Tech Health El Paso
Texas Tech Health El Paso welcomed students, faculty and staff back to campus with a lively and spirited Welcome Back Fiesta on Friday, Sept. 20.
The fiesta, designed to foster camaraderie and celebrate the start of the new academic year, featured exciting activities including a dunking booth, where Foster School of Medicine dean and Texas Tech Health El Paso president Richard Lange, M.D., M.B.A., Rajkumar Lakshmanaswamy, Ph.D., dean of the L. Frederick Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences along with other members of university leadership took a splash for the team.
In addition to the dunk-a-dean booth, attendees enjoyed free elote, bringing a mouth-watering taste of local culture to the event.
Special guests included El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Chamber Churro, Ozzy and players from El Paso Locomotive FC, GECU Dru Blue, Hope the Fox from the Steve and Nancy Fox Cancer Center, and the Texas Tech Dental Oral Health Clinic’s Teeth Rex, who all hammed it up with selfies with attendees. Guests also stopped by Proper Printshop’s upcycling station to repurpose their pre-owned T-shirts into trendy apparel emblazoned with the new Texas Tech Health El Paso logo.
Texas Tech Health El Paso is the only health sciences center in Texas west of Interstate 35 offering medical, nursing, dental, and biomedical sciences education on a single campus. This integration allows students to train alongside peers from other health professions, fostering a collaborative environment that enhances their readiness for the workforce.
The fiesta came at the end of Texas Tech Health El Paso's weeklong celebration of being a federally recognized Hispanic-Serving Institution. HSI Week included panel discussions, cultural performances, and opportunities for current and potential future students.
Currently, 52% of Texas Tech Health El Paso students come from border counties in Texas and 41% come from El Paso County. Their education prepares them to serve in their hometowns, helping to reduce health care professional shortages.
Hunt School of Dental Medicine
With the addition of the Class of 2028, the Hunt School of Dental Medicine now boasts four active class cohorts since its founding in 2021. The inaugural class is on track to graduate in May 2025.
Anna Ceniceros, one of the 40 students in the inaugural class, grew up in the small town of Clarendon, Texas, with a population of just over 2,000. Her parents were migrant farmworkers, and she is a first-generation college graduate. Now entering her final year of dental school, she reflects on her journey from being a farm laborer to being months away from realizing her dream of becoming a dentist.
“I’m ecstatic to be in my final year,” Ceniceros shared. “It feels like a dream. The time has flown by, and I love reflecting on how far I’ve come — from aspiring to be at this point in my life to now being so close to graduating as a full-fledged dentist.”
Ceniceros described dental school as a valuable learning experience.
“I’ve developed my skills from basic hygiene all the way to placing implants,” she said. “The opportunities here at the Hunt School of Dental Medicine have been incredible. I look forward to coming to school every day to help my patients in any way I can.”
After graduating, Ceniceros plans to return to Clarendon and nearby areas to serve her community. As a general dentist, she intends to apply the skills she learned in dental school, including advanced technology, Spanish fluency, and technical expertise, to improve access to care for underserved populations.
One of the distinguishing aspects of the Hunt School of Dental Medicine is that students begin working in the clinic within months of starting their studies—a unique experience as most dental schools delay clinical training until the second year.
Hispanics make up only 5.6% of practicing dentists in the U.S., and language barriers can create challenges for Hispanic patients when their dentist does not speak Spanish. Additionally, less than 9% of dental graduates each year are Hispanic.
The shortage of dental providers, especially along the U.S.-Mexico border, significantly impacts underserved communities. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, over 5,800 areas across the country are designated as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas, with many located along our border. Some regions have just one dentist for every 5,000 residents.
Training dentists in El Paso, a key city along the U.S.-Mexico border, is a strategic step in addressing these critical issues. By investing in local education, the Hunt School of Dental Medicine is preparing professionals who are both highly skilled and culturally attuned to the needs of our region. Approximately 75% of graduates are expected to stay and practice in the area, helping to alleviate the dentist shortage and improve access to care.
Foster School of Medicine
Texas Tech Health El Paso welcomed its largest class of 135 new medical students at the Foster School of Medicine’s White Coat Ceremony in August. To date, 997 students have graduated from the school, which was established to increase the number of physicians in the medically underserved Borderplex region.
El Pasoan Sophia Adame has been following the Foster School of Medicine since graduating from Coronado High School and says it’s emotional to realize that she is now a first-year medical student.
“I’m grateful to the school and I wouldn’t be here without their support and resources,” Adame said. “I've seen the school grow in many aspects. It has done an excellent job providing our community with physicians and free student-run clinics, with events like Medventure for Your Future, the summer medical camp, and more. The school also does a fantastic job of inspiring and enabling the dreams of young El Pasoans who want to become physicians.”
Before the school opened in 2009, El Paso had 75% fewer physicians per 100,000 people than the national average. Since then, the number of local physicians has increased by 66%, from 1,034 to 1,715, largely due to the presence of our four-year medical school and growth of our physician residency programs.
The Foster School of Medicine stands out for its early hands-on clinical experience and was one of the first in the U.S. to require medical Spanish, ensuring students are better prepared to serve Spanish-speaking patients. With 30% of its students identifying as Hispanic, the school is addressing the national shortage of Hispanic physicians, who make up less than 6% of U.S. doctors despite Hispanics accounting for nearly 20% of the population.
Around 20% of the incoming class are from our Borderplex region, poised to address health disparities in the local community.
Hunt School of Nursing
The Hunt School of Nursing features a curriculum for cross-disciplinary collaboration, preparing its students to work in clinical teams alongside physicians. The school’s curriculum also prepares students for leadership positions in hospitals and clinics. It’s home to the only accelerated program in our region where students earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in just 16 months. To date, the Hunt School of Nursing has graduated more than 1,400 nurses.
El Pasoan Venice Redman is in the final semester of the accelerated program.
"Being in an accelerated program is fast-paced, and you have to keep up with the workload,” Redman said. “The professors present the material in a way that connects it to real-life situations. In my final semester, it's about applying all the knowledge we've gained and learning in a real-world setting, along with preparing for clinicals. It's exciting and eye-opening as I explore my career path and figure out what I want to do with my degree. It's also reassuring to have professors and leaders around who can help guide me."
Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the L. Frederick Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Students at the school gain valuable research experience while focusing on health issues affecting Hispanic and border communities. Currently, 60% of the student body is Hispanic. As the Hispanic population in the U.S. continues to grow, so does the demand for greater diversity among biomedical researchers.
Alejandra Munoz, a proud El Paso native and Socorro High School Alumna, is working toward her Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences at the FGSBS after graduating from Emory University in Atlanta. She Munoz is actively involved in student organizations, including being president of the Student Government Association on campus.
Munoz also has the unique opportunity to work in Dr. Mingtao Zeng's infectious disease laboratory of Mingtao Zeng, Ph.D. In the university’s Center of Emphasis in Infectious Diseases where she is contributing to a project focused on a novel influenza vaccine candidate.
"I am beyond proud to have been able to return to the community that raised me in order to continue my trajectory in education," she said. "Regardless of where my studies take me, I know I will be back working in this wonderful community!"
As a first-generation, student, Munoz is passionate about using her research skills to make a lasting impact. She hopes to continue her work in Dr. Zeng’s lab while pursuing an M.D. or Ph.D. program, with a long-term goal of focusing on infectious disease prevention.
The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that of the approximately 130,000 medical scientists employed in the country, 49.2% are white, 41.1% are Asian, 9.4% are Hispanic, and 8.3% are Black or African American.
The FGSBS offers a vibrant research environment tailored to studying health conditions impacting the Borderplex region and other expanding Hispanic populations. Since its opening in 2018, the school has awarded biomedical degrees to 192 students.
About Texas Tech Health El Paso
Texas Tech Health 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 students.
Established as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a proudly diverse and uniquely innovative destination for education and research.
With a mission of eliminating health care barriers and creating life-changing educational opportunities for Borderplex residents, Texas Tech Health El Paso has graduated over 2,400 doctors, nurses and researchers over the past decade, and will add dentists to its alumni beginning in 2025. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.