Department of Medical Education


Assistant Dean for Medical Education
Professor and Chair, Department of Medical Education
Clinical Professor, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine
Education
[2014] - Harvard Macy Program: A Systems Approach to Assessment in Health Professions Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
[2011] - Harvard Macy Program for Educators in Health Professions, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
[2001] - Dr. rer. nat. (PhD), Biochemistry/Biophysics, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
[1993] - BSc, Biochemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Positions
[2014 - Present] - Assistant Dean for Medical Education, Department of Medical Education, TTUHSC-PLFSOM.
[2014 - Present] - Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, TTUHSC-PLFSOM.
[2013 - Present] - Associate Professor, L. Frederick Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, TTUHSC.
[2008 - Present] - Vice-Chair, Department of Medical Education, TTUHSC-PLFSOM.
[2008 - Present] - Founding Director, Scientific Principles of Medicine Course, TTUHSC-PLFSOM.
[2008 - Present] - Associate Professor, Department of Medical Education, TTUHSC-PLFSOM.
[2004 - 2007] - Senior Lecturer and Group Leader, Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck, Germany.
[2002 - 2004] - Founding Director of Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Jena Drug Discovery GmbH, Jena, Germany.
[2001 - 2002] - Research Associate, Department of Structural Biology and Crystallography, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Jena, Germany.
Distinctions
- 15+ years of teaching experience in medical biochemistry and nutrition.
- Executive Board Member, Association of Biochemistry Course Directors, [2011 - 2015].
- 3x TTUHSC El Paso-PLFSOM Faculty of the Year Award Nominee.
- Heinrich-Dräger Award for Infectious Disease Research, [2007].
- Editor’s Choice for Biochemistry Research, Science Magazine, Science 304, [2004].
Scholarly Interests
Medical and graduate education, macromolecular crystallography, structural biology, rational drug design, GTPases, molecular mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and persistence.
The Department of Medical Education is the academic home for a diverse group of clinical and basic science educators who constitute the core faculty for the first and second years of the medical school curriculum. The department is responsible for planning, producing and implementing the pre-clerkship educational program according to the guidance and oversight provided by the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Curriculum and Educational Planning Committee and the associate dean for medical education. As an adjunctive resource, the Department of Medical Education also supports and enhances the third and fourth years of the medical school curriculum. Currently the department faculty consists of nine clinicians (spanning the specialties of internal medicine, neurology, pathology, and psychiatry), fifteen basic science medical educators (spanning the academic disciplines of anatomy, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, embryology, microbiology, immunology, psychology, genetics, pharmacology, biochemistry, histology and cell biology), and two nurse educators (with primary assignment to the medical skills course). In addition to missions related to curriculum development and delivery, the Department of Medical Education is a center for innovation in educational theory, practice, and scholarship.
Contact the Department of Medical Education at:
TTUHSC El Paso
Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Department of Medical Education
Medical Education Building 2200, MSC 21009
5001 El Paso Drive
El Paso, TX 79905
Phone: 915-215-4360
Fax: 915-783-1715