An El Paso family donated $100,000 to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso to create a new scholarship fund for students at the Foster School of Medicine.
Surrounded by their children and grandchildren, Cliff and Martha Eisenberg announced the donation.
“We know what it takes to finance the education of a medical student, with our own daughter, Lauren. We also understand that not all families have been as fortunate as we have over the years,” said Cliff.
“That is why today we are increasing the scholarship fund that we created last year, so that we can help other students achieve their dreams of becoming doctors through the world-class education offered at Foster School of Medicine. ”, he added.
The Cliff and Martha Eisenberg Medical Student Scholarship also includes an additional $75,000 contribution from the WestStar Matching Scholarship Fund.
Your total scholarship endowment is a permanent investment of $175,000 that will grow in perpetuity.
In honor of their support, a row of study rooms in the Medical Sciences II Building, the newest on campus, will be renamed the Cliff and Martha Eisenberg Family Collaborative Space, where students can strengthen their studies and work in teams interdisciplinary.
One of those medical students is Krysta Caudle, a member of the class of 2023 at Foster School of Medicine. She was the first in her family to graduate from high school, college, and soon medical school. The Granbury, Texas, native plans to apply for a residency in orthopedic surgery and hopes to work with athletes one day.
“As a lifelong athlete, the only fear in the back of your mind is getting hurt because your whole life revolves around being able to run and I’ve seen a lot of friends go through those injuries,” said Caudle, who played soccer for many years. .
“That’s the reason I got into medicine. I want to get those young athletes back on the field where they love to be,” he added.
Caudle, who also coaches the University of Texas at El Paso rugby team, said she was lucky never to have a life-altering injury, but paying for school wasn’t that easy.
“I come from a low-income home and my parents don’t have much help, so money was always on our minds. If I didn’t get a full scholarship, I wouldn’t go to college,” Caudle said. But her community rallied around her and everyone gave what they might in support of scholarships for Caudle’s undergraduate degree.
“I also worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, but in medical school, this is a full-time job. Scholarships are essential for me to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. What the Eisenbergs are doing is a level of generosity that is inspiring. I hope to be in a position to do the same one day. It’s really a beautiful thing and a game changer for students like me,” she concluded.
The Eisenbergs have a long history of supporting the El Paso community through philanthropy. They were among the inaugural donors who helped establish the Foster School of Medicine in 2007.
In honor of his support, one of TTUHSC El Paso’s libraries, located in the Medical Education Building, is named following Cliff’s mother, Doris F. Eisenberg.
“The funding of the Foster School of Medicine is one of the largest additions in El Paso’s history. We were proud to support it at the beginning and it’s been amazing to see it grow over the last 14 years with the support of the community,” said Cliff Eisenberg.
“We hope that our gift will be an example for our children and grandchildren. El Paso has been our family’s home for generations and we want it to thrive. Thanks to Foster School of Medicine, future healthcare heroes are learning how to care for El Pasoans for years to come,” she concluded.
More than 10 years ago, before the school opened, El Paso County’s average number of direct care physicians per 100,000 population was 75 percent less than the national average.
Currently, the county is facing a 50 percent shortage. In that time, the county increased its number of direct care physicians from 844 to 1,325, a 57 percent increase that is a direct result of having a four-year medical school in the area.
