New Mexico

The Gallup Indian Medical Center, GIMC ( ) is located in Gallup New Mexico. Gallup is located two hours east of Albuquerque, NM on I-40. It is within a day drive from California, Grand Canyon, Southern Colorado Skiing lodges and many National Parks in Utah and Arizona. Tohatchi Health Center (THC) is a satellite of the GIMC located 28 miles north of Gallup. GIMC and THC serve approximately 45000 Native Americans (mostly Navajo’s) living in this area. The population of Gallup is 25,000 permanent residents that doubles during the weekends due to influx of shoppers.

Gallup Indian Medical Center is a full service hospital and referral center. It has Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Emergency Room, Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics, General Surgery, Social Services and Dental are just a few examples of services provided by the GIMC and the THC.

The LMC dental residents will spend time in both locations while living in Gallup. (Approximately 80% in Tohatchi and 20% at GIMC). This AEGD program includes one week of anesthesia rotation at the GIMC and one week of Family Medicine at THC. Residents will get a wide range of experience specially in treating medically compromised patients, Oral Surgery, Biopsies, Fractures, Pediatric dentistry and Removable Pros. The resident is expected to assist with the oral surgery and pediatric cases two days a month in the operating room.

New Mexico-Truly a Land of Enchantment

More than 10,000 years ago Folsom Paleo-Indians first settled in New Mexico and they were followed centuries later by refugees from the Anasazi communities to the west. Over time, they created land-based villages eventually called pueblos by the Spanish. The culturally similar Mogollon Indians lived in today’s Gila National Forest. Eventually, the Athabascans arrived from the north and divided into the Apache and Navajo. Spanish explorers on their quest for gold arrived in the mid-16th century and introduced the horse to the territory. Spanish settlers and soldiers brought a new culture to the area and established Santa Fe as the capital in 1610, a decade before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Zealous missionaries intent on converting American Indians soon replaced the fervor of Coronado’s failed quest for gold. Religious over-zealousness, economic oppression, and enslavement by the Spanish led to the Indian revolt of 1680 but the Spanish reclaimed the area in 1692, promising to improve conditions for the Indians. During that twelve-year period, Utes, Navajos, and Apaches raided the Pueblos. Over the course of the next century, the now-peaceful Apaches were driven south by invading Comanches. The Treaty of 1786 brought a measure of peace to the region and alliances made by intermarriage and trade between the Indians and Spanish created New Mexico’s mestizaje culture. In 1824, New Mexico briefly became a Mexican territory but was declared a U.S. territory in 1850 after the Mexican-American War. New Mexico became a state in 1912. Today there are 19 socially and religiously independent Pueblos in New Mexico but they each speak one of five languages-Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, Keresan or Zunian.

The state is blessed with rich natural resources-water, natural gas, and oil among others. The Federal government is the major employer, mostly in research laboratories and military facilities. The sun shines nearly 70 percent of the time, making New Mexico a magnet for tourism and recreation.