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 healthcare 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 Mobile Care Unit had our first Mammography event in Agua Dulce in February of 2020. As a medical student it has been an honor to be able to help reduce some of the health disparities we see out here in El Paso, Texas. The event went great. At first, I was a little worried that we might not meet our 28 patient goal because we were new to this location, but was I wrong! We received lots of positive feedback from the community. Not only did we reach our goal but as we were packing up, we had over seven women approach us to ask when we were coming back. I noticed sadness in their face as they asked to be placed on our wait list. While they were sad that they could not be screened that day (due to our economic constraints) I explained to them that we were going to work hard to be able to host another screening event. Many women of the US-Mexico border population do not have economic means to get a mammography let alone afford further diagnostic testing if required. The MSRC Mobile Care Unit not only provides health screening services and education, but we have an unrelenting commitment to a better and healthier community that our patients see and appreciate.” — Liliana Bonilla, PLFSOM Class of 2021