RangelMD.com has finally returned to the medblogosphere.
His tale of his move to (El Paso) is a painful personal experience, and I hope life gets better for him.
No word if he remains a hospitalist or has ‘hung out a shingle’, a phrase that shows my age. And he has my sympathies: I lived in El Paso for 2 years of med school, and would just as soon never go there again.
What?! What’s so wrong about El Paso? The weather is outstanding. The mountains are beautiful. The people are friendly and down to Earth (esp. compaired to Dallas). There is a lot of economic growth here because of NAFTA and trade with Mexico. There is all kinds of out door rec. stuff to do. What’s not to like?
Yea, what’s wrong with El Paso? I know we were there under educational duress, but I really miss the dry weather, the sunsets (incredible at times) and the trips to New Mexico, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend. The people are friendlier there. I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I do. However, growing up in the DFW Metrohell (Colleyville) I do not miss anything about it other than its proximity to my family. Each time I visit the place gets more crowded, more polluted and totally out of control. Dr. Rangel has made an excellent choice.
I’m glad to see Dr. Rangel back! I was beginning to wonder what happened to him. I had to say this here since he does not have comments.
I lived there when you did Darren, and my gripe is that it’s overpriced for what it is (back porch for a 3rd world country), grey skies from cooking fires over the border, the absolutely worst customer service outside France, and ‘freeways’ that move at 40 WITHOUT traffic, they’re just in no hurry to get to their place of unemployment.
Perhaps it would be better with ‘real doc’ money instead of med student income, but it has the distinction of being the ONLY place my wife refused to consider for a job. She was willing to go to Guam before El Paso. So am I.
What can I say, I have strange tastes. All the things you said are true, it is crowded, polluted and on the edge of free world. But hey, we moved there from Lubbock, so it was a step up. I am not saying that I want to move back, but I did enjoy my time in El Paso, mainly because of its proximity to other things. Not really for EP itself. I have found myself happy in Little Rock, uncrowded (150,000 population) unpolluted and close to the things I like to do- hunt fish camp hike.
Reading Dr. Rangel’s experiences while living in Dallas makes me think any alternative would be better.
I have never been there, and most likely will not harbor any desire to go there in light of Dr. Rangel’s description of what I thought was Hell.
Even if Bill Parcells is one of my idols.
El Paso, where I stayed for a week years ago, comes close to being like Tucson where I lived for one year. Being a border city carries with it the burden of a third-world country’s problems, as it is in San Diego and similarly situated cities. But that Corona beer in Ciudad Juarez may compensate for all the problems Dr. Rangel had in Dallas, with all the exotic senyoritas ready to
entertain him without an ex-husband hovering over him.