John C. DeToledo, M.D.

Interim Dean of the School of Medicine

In almost every state in our country, medicine is being practiced by graduates of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine.  We have an exciting story to tell… a story retold and reinvented each time a graduate makes a mark on the world.

Since 1969, we have graduated more than 4,000 physicians. Our original charter was to place more physicians in West Texas, an area of the state where many counties had none. Today, we are proud that more than 20 percent of the practicing physicians in West Texas graduated from our medical school and/or residency programs.

Our departments conduct research and foster scientific discovery that translate into better health solutions. From aging, cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases, and women’s health – just to name a few – the School of Medicine’s strategy to enhance research programs is through supporting the faculty, students, residents, and staff with every available professional resource and expertise. A major initiative for the school is to provide quality lab space, recruit creative, innovative research faculty, and to develop graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for lifelong careers in medical research. Accomplishments in recent years include: the renovation and construction of research space in Amarillo, El Paso, and Lubbock, continued and aggressive faculty recruitment with attractive start-up packages, substantial increases in endowed chairs and external funding and most recently, the addition of the F. Marie Hall SimLife Center, a simulation center with more than 24,000 square feet of space in Lubbock, which allows students from all disciplines to acquire a variety of skills through multi-modality instruction.  In addition, simulation centers have been established in Amarillo and Permian Basin.

Texas Tech Physicians is the largest group practice in West Texas with more than 450 full-time clinical faculty from both the TTUHSC School of Medicine and the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine encompassing 108 counties in Texas and New Mexico.  The wide range of specialties and sub-specialties comprising the practice allow us to touch the lives of more than 270,000 patients each year. A new state-of-the-art research building is available for students in Amarillo and the Permian Basin continues to increase facilities and programs.  The recently established Paul L. Foster School of Medicine was formerly a regional campus and is now the first four-year medical school on the Texas-Mexico border.

I hope you share with me in the excitement of the many changes and positive efforts being made to make the School of Medicine a premier place to work, study, and receive the latest medical care and treatment in West Texas!