Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso

The mission of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso) is to improve the lives of people in our State and our community by focusing on the unique healthcare needs of socially and culturally diverse border populations through excellence in integrated education, research, and patient care. As part of TTUHSC El Paso’s Foster School of Medicine, the Medical Student Run Clinic (MSRC) and the Medical Student Run Clinic Mobile Care Unit (MSRC MCU) seek to provide health care services to assist in meeting the needs of the underserved population of El Paso County by providing free primary and preventive health care to local and regional patients who are under- and uninsured.

Since 2013, volunteer physicians and medical students have worked together with the local communities to provide breast cancer screening events with clinical breast exams, screening mammography and follow-up diagnostic testing when needed at no cost. The clinic also serves as an educational opportunity for medical students to gain exposure to a clinical setting and practice newly acquired skills under the supervision of physicians while helping to ensure that some of the region’s most medically underserved populations have access to quality health care.

“The MSRC MCU allows us to make valuable screening services more accessible to east El Paso communities who may otherwise go without. By hosting health fairs, we are able to help more people learn about their health and connect them with resources for them to obtain care. From diabetes screenings to mammograms, patients undergo many challenges to attend our events, and several even walk from their houses along at-times unsafe roads for them. This underscores the scarcity of medical resources in our community and reinforces the fact that we need to continue our mission of increasing access to screening services. Recently, we started an HIV screening program at our events, and my conversations with patients have made it readily apparent that there is a need for such programs in our communities. In the future, we hope to continue to have the opportunity to expand upon the services we provide, and the Care Van is an important resource for our ability to do so.” — Aaron Murillo Ruiz