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Ronda Mintz-Binder, DNP, RN, and a team in the Master of Science in Nursing with a focus on education, are experimenting with incentives to drive more interest in that field.

“Because, let’s be real, somebody with a master’s as a nurse practitioner makes a lot more than an incoming faculty member,” Mintz-Binder, the director of the MSN program, says.

In late 2023, the program received a grant, which provided pay for a group of about 20 first- and second-year nursing education students. The main goal was to create a pathway for the students to become clinical preceptors and transition more easily into a clinical faculty position.

Though the project’s initial funding has since expired, Mintz-Binder and the team are looking for new funding for similar projects in the hopes of attracting more student interested in teaching and find a solution to the faculty shortage.

“The more experiences these students have, the better they are at jumping right out of graduation and into major teaching roles and experiences,” she says.

Jeff Davis County opened the Davis Mountain Clinic in Fort Davis, Texas, in collaboration with TTUHSC to provide primary care services and Texas A&M Health to provide behavioral health services. Now, this community of about 1,200 people, located roughly four-and-a-half-hours southwest of Odessa, will have expanded access to health care.

“This new innovative model shows that two academic health centers can collaborate to address rural health care needs,” Adrian Billings, MD, TTUHSC associate academic dean of Rural and Community Engagement, says.

hen Kendra Rumbaugh, PhD, (Biomedical Sciences ’01) enrolled in 1996 as a TTUHSC graduate student, she knew two things for certain: she wanted to go into some type of health care field and she didn’t want to go to medical school.

Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas
Population and Public Health Graduate: 2022

Her impact on supporting community unmet needs grounds her in how vital it is to advocate for those who otherwise cannot. Ardon, a first-generation graduate shared, “I think about how I was supposed to be a statistic – that shouldn’t have gone to college.”

TTUHSC School of Health Professions Department of Laboratory Sciences and Primary Care, Lubbock, Texas
Biomedical Sciences: 2009

“Being able to share my knowledge of science with somebody else who’s just starting to understand themselves and watching them be able to take it and use it in patient care is just really fulfilling,” she says.

Tyler Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy University of Texas, Tyler, Texas
Pharmacy Graduate: 2003

Experiential education, or experience in clinical and professional settings, is one part of the pharmacy programs Ochoa is especially passionate about. She believes the extra exposure to real-world situations provides students with an understanding of pharmacy settings and aids in career development.

Recent Assignment: Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Nursing Graduate: 2021

“It helps to expand your skill set and ability to deal with different situations,” Pacer says.

The repetitive moves and job applications can get exhausting, but as a former line medic for the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army — a unit known for its rapid deployment capabilities — Pacer is an expert at relocating quickly. He served two tours in Afghanistan, overseeing the his unit’s medical readiness.

TTUHSC/ Texas Tech Physicians, Lubbock, Texas
Medicine Graduate: 1994

Camp encourages the next generation of pediatricians to discover their reasons for advocating. Her first-year residents are required to attend the society’s annual meeting, to understand how to improve children’s health at the policy level. A Texas Pediatric Society grant allowed one resident to start a mentorship program in the rural town of Hart, Texas. Another created an “Anatomy Academy” for Bayless Elementary School in Lubbock where residents teach about anatomy monthly to stir early interest in medicine.