Three University of New Mexico (UNM) medical students, An Phan, Natalia Torrez and Devon Santisteban, are spending part of their summer in Roswell, shadowing doctors at the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center (ENMMC), 405 W. Country Club Rd.
The students are enrolled in UNM’s combined BA/MD (Baccalaureate/Doctor of Medicine) Degree Program, a partnership program between the UNM College of Arts and Sciences and the UNM School of Medicine. According to its website, the program is intended to help “address New Mexico’s physician shortage by assembling a class of diverse students who are committed to serving communities across the state.”
The curriculum includes spending several weeks shadowing practitioners at a working medical facility in New Mexico and volunteering in the facility’s community.
By taking part in the program, the students are guaranteed a spot at UNM Medical School, Santisteban said.
“We just finish our undergrad (degree), and we go right into medical school and don’t have to go through the hard process of applying to them,” he said.
Torrez and Santisteban are both life-long residents of Albuquerque, they said, while Phan was born in Vietnam and moved to the “Duke City” as a small child.
The students are about halfway through earning their undergraduate degrees, Torrez said.
“We all finished up our second year of undergrad, and we have two more years to go,” she said.
Torrez, who said she intends to become an obstetrician or surgeon, is shadowing Dr. Akbar Ali, a general surgeon at ENMMC, while Phan and Santisteban, who intend to become emergency room physicians or cardiologists, are shadowing Dr. Jason Pope and Dr. Thomas Wulf, who are emergency room physicians.
Phan said they also followed nurse-practitioner students as well as physician assistant students during their time in Roswell.
Torrez said she has gained valuable insights working with the doctors.
“You see them treat people on some of the worst days of their lives, hearing the news they’re receiving,” she said. “Part of the beauty of the medical profession is being able to be compassionate.”
Watching the doctors use their knowledge and compassion to help people has been a great experience, she said.
The students said being at ENNMC as the hospital received an influx of patients who were evacuated from the Ruidoso hospital was interesting and revealing.
Santisteban said he was at the hospital when they declared a state of emergency in Ruidoso and evacuated the patients from there to Roswell.
He said it was a difficult situation, as the hospital took in not only patients in need of minimal intervention or who were in hospice care but also patients in critical condition.
In addition, there were patients who needed prescriptions because they could not get to their homes or were forced to evacuate without their medicines, Santisteban said.
He said there was only one doctor on call who could prescribe the medication.
“She did a very good job of managing that,” Santisteban said.
“Since we’re also here to volunteer,” Torrez said. “We were happy to help out in any way that the people of Ruidoso needed and to support them through this awful tragedy.”
Santisteban said he was surprised by how quickly the staff at ENMMC was able to safely take in the patients from Ruidoso.
Torrez said the visiting students shadow doctors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and also volunteer about 20 hours a week.
She said one thing she has learned is that patients in Roswell and Albuquerque behave differently toward their doctors.
“I’ve noticed that patients in general (in Roswell) are much more respectful, they’re much more appreciative of doctors here compared to in Albuquerque,” Torrez said.
She said that in Albuquerque, there are a lot of patients who think doctors don’t know much, or they don’t feel the doctor deserves any respect.
“I’ve seen that happen a lot more in Albuquerque,” Torrez said.
She said that even though she would like to do her residency somewhere else, she would love to come back and practice in New Mexico.
“Something that I’ve appreciated about my experience here in Roswell is I really enjoy the community, and I also see how much help more rural areas need,” Torrez said.
“I see my surgeon, Dr. Ali, he does procedures that oftentimes other doctors would do and other specialists would do, but because of the lack of specialists in New Mexico as a whole, but also also rural areas, it’s very difficult for people to get the care that they need.”
She said she was coming back and practicing in New Mexico.
Phan said that one thing he has enjoyed about being in Roswell is the chance to explore some of the surrounding areas.
“I’m a wildlife photographer, as a hobbyist,” he said. “I tried to look around and see the environment, but mostly I’ve seen a lot of wildlife out at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge.”
He said the refuge isn’t too busy, and the birds often like to be in one spot, so he can do a lot of photography.
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