Medical Education

Faculty & Staff

Ricardo Belmares, PhD: Assistant Professor; Ricardo.Belmares@utrgv.edu

Ricardo Belmares, PhD

Ricardo Belmares, PhD
Assistant Professor
Medical Education
Email: Ricardo.Belmares@utrgv.edu

Ricardo Belmares, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Medical Education at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – School of Medicine. He teaches anatomy to pre-clerkship medical students.

He previously served as Assistant Professor at Texas Tech Health Science Center El Paso where he taught anatomy to medical students at Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and dental students at William D. Hunt School of Dental Medicine. He was the program coordinator for the Distinction in Anatomy program, course director for the Surgical Anatomy elective, and co-course director of the second-year medical school pre-clerkship curriculum. Dr. Belmares also served on several committees such as Admissions where he served as Chair, a voting member for Grading and Promotions committee, and served as a research mentor for over 30 medical students.

Dr. Belmares’ research is split between basic sciences and pedagogy. In basic sciences, he has broad interests in anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, and histology resulting in top-tier journals such as Science and Nature. His latest focus has been investigating anatomical variation in border population which has led to novel findings in coronary branching, course of maxillary artery in infratemporal fossa, and histological studies in deep vein valves and collagen distribution in trabecular meshwork and optic nerve head.

In pedagogy, Dr. Belmares has developed imaging modules to prepare medical students for clerkship rotations, introduced an individualized learning plan for anatomy instruction, and streamlined the pre-clerkship curriculum to better prepare students for STEP and clerkship.

Dr. Belmares has also been active in many on-campus outreach programs such as EP HEAT to educate the community regarding many important health issues such as dispelling common medical myths about vaccines, diabetes, high blood pressure, and diet.

Rajendra Rao Thambi dorai Conjeevaram, MD: Professor of Medical Education; Thambi.Conjee@utrgv.edu

Rajendra Rao Thambi dorai Conjeevaram, MD

Rajendra Rao Thambi dorai Conjeevaram, MD
Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Thambi.Conjee@utrgv.edu

Rajendra Rao Thambi dorai Conjeevaram MD, is a Professor of Medical Education and teaches anatomy at UTRGV.

He previously served as Professor and Senior Consultant Pediatric surgeon in the Departments of Surgery at University Malaya and in the National University of Malaysia. In pediatric surgery, his special interests include neonatal surgery and Pediatric urology.

Thambi dorai received his Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery degree from Madras Medical College and Master of Surgery from University Madras, India. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of surgeons, Edinburgh in General surgery and Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons (RACS) in Pediatric surgery. He obtained his Diploma in Medical Education from University of Dundee.

All through his career as a Surgeon in the Academic departments of Surgery, he has taught basic anatomy and applied anatomy, General surgery and Pediatric surgery, to graduate medical students and residents. He has special interest in problem solving and clinical oriented teaching and has been involved in curriculum development for this purpose.

His recent research projects include urethral replacement with tissue engineered products, drug therapy for urological dysfunction in spina bifida and genetics of Hirschsprung’s disease. He has 80 publications in peer reviewed journals and is a regular reviewer for peer reviewed journals.

He is enthusiastic on promoting publication and research culture among graduate medical students and residents and serves as editor for journals with this aim. He has supervised thesis of residents in surgery for over 30 years. He is an examiner for the Royal college of surgeons of Edinburgh and is involved in setting OSCE questions in basic sciences examination of the college. He is a life-member of both Medical education association of Malaysia and Academy of Medicine of Malaysia. He is an instructor for ATLS course of the American college of surgeons and a member of the Academy of Surgical Educators of the RACS.

Sambandam Elango, MD

Professor of Medical Education

(956) 296-1954

Sambandam.Elango@utrgv.edu

Sambandam Elango, MD

Sambandam Elango, MD
Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Sambandam.Elango@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1954

Elias George, MD, FCAP: Assistant Professor of Medical Education; (956) 296-3010; Elias.George@utrgv.edu

Elias George, MD, FCAP

Elias George, MD, FCAP
Assistant Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Elias.George@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-3010

Seratna Guadarrama Beltran, PhD: Assistant Professor of Medical Education; (956) 296-1447; Seratna.Guadarrama@utrgv.edu

Seratna Guadarrama Beltran, PhD

Seratna Guadarrama Beltran, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Seratna.Guadarrama@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1447

Wendy Innis, PhD: Associate Professor of Medical Education; (956) 296-1494; Wendy.Innis@utrgv.edu

Wendy Innis, PhD

Wendy Innis, PhD
Associate Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
ETBLC 2.116 (Edinburg)
Email: Wendy.Innis@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1494

Timothy Loy, MD: Associate Professor of Medical Education; Timothy.Loy@utrgv.edu

Timothy Loy, MD

Timothy Loy, MD
Associate Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Timothy.Loy@utrgv.edu

Shizue Mito, PhD: Assistant Professor of Medical Education; Shizue.Mito@utrgv.edu

Shizue Mito, PhD

Shizue Mito, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Shizue.Mito@utrgv.edu

Pratip Mitra, MPharmSci, PhD: Associate Professor of Medical Education; (956) 296-1595; Pratip.Mitra@utrgv.edu

Pratip Mitra, MPharmSci, PhD

Pratip Mitra, MPharmSci, PhD
Associate Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
ETBLC 2.109 (Edinburg)
Email: Pratip.Mitra@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1595

Seval Ozkan Coban, PhD: Assistant Professor of Medical Education; Seval.OzkanCoban@utrgv.edu

Seval Ozkan Coban, PhD

Seval Ozkan Coban, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Seval.OzkanCoban@utrgv.edu

Padmanabhan Rengasamy, PhD: Professor of Medical Education; (956) 296-1901; Pad.Renga@utrgv.edu

Padmanabhan Rengasamy, PhD

Padmanabhan Rengasamy, PhD
Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
EMEBL 2.104 (Edinburg)
Email: Pad.Renga@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1901

Amin Shah, PhD: Assistant Professor of Medical Education; (956) 296-1939; Amin.Shah@utrgv.edu

Amin Shah, PhD

Amin Shah, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
ETBLC 2.108 (Edinburg)
Email: Amin.Shah@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1939

Curriculum Vitae

Alex L. Zuo, PhD, FACSM: Associate Professor of Medical Education; (956) 296-3252; Alex.Zuo@utrgv.edu

Alex L. Zuo, PhD, FACSM

Alex L. Zuo, PhD, FACSM
Associate Professor of Medical Education
Medical Education
Email: Alex.Zuo@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-3252

Faculty & Staff

Department Chair

Sambandam Elango, MD
Department Chair

Contact

Edinburg Team Based Learning Center
1204 W Schunior St, Edinburg, TX 78541

Rene Leonhardt, MBA
Department Administrator
Email: Rene.Leonhardt@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1907

Mallaly Aleman
Administrative Assistant I
Department of Medical Education
Email: Mallaly.Aleman@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 296-1551

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Medical Education

Faculty & Staff