Our Faculty
John Andazola, M.D.
Program Director
John Andazola, MD, FAAFP was born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico where he attended New Mexico State University. He received his MD from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in 1997, and completed residency at the Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency program in 2000. Dr Andazola went on to complete a fellowship in Advanced Hospital Training for Family Physicians in Phoenix AZ, and a Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of Arizona from 2001-2003. After completion of the fellowships Dr. Andazola joined the fellowship faculty and later became director of the fellowship.
Dr. Andazola moved back to Las Cruces in January of 2009 and became program director in May of 2009. He is very happy to be back home! Dr. Andazola’s interests are in medical education, hospital medicine, OB and border health. He is committed to his community and is committed to producing well rounded Family Physicians for the community.
Stephanie Benson, M.D.
She is originally from West Virginia where she attended WVU School of Medicine and entered Residency in the department of Family Medicine at WVU. She transferred in 2007 to become a part our family at the Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency Program where she became chief resident and graduated from our program in 2009. She currently sits on the board of directors as an officer for the New Mexico chapter of the AAFP. Her areas of interest include hospital medicine, OB, international medicine, and women's health. She is a happily married and the mother of two. She enjoys horseback riding, playing guitar, kayaking and hiking.
Marco Duarte, M.D.
Dolores Gomez, M.D.
Dolores Gomez, MD is originally from Dell City, Texas (population 600) and moved to Las Cruces in 1986. She received her Bachelor of Science from New Mexico State University and received her MD from the University of New Mexico. She returned to Las Cruces and completed her residency in Family Medicine and is an alumnus of the Southern NM Family Medicine Residency, Class of 2001.
Dr. Gomez left Las Cruces after residency and completed a fellowship in Advanced Hospital Training for Family Physicians at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as a Faculty Development fellowship through the University of Arizona. After completion of the fellowships, she was appointed faculty of the Advanced Hospital Training fellowship. She remained as faculty for the next five years until returning to Las Cruces to rejoin the residency as faculty in January 2009.
Dr. Gomez has a strong interest in obstetrics, including surgical and high-risk OB. She also loves sports medicine and is a die-hard NMSU Aggie and Arizona Diamondback fan. “Training Family Medicine residents to be successful full-spectrum physicians is a direct reflection on the strength of the program and a direct reflection on our ability to educate residents”.
Kathleen Hales, M.D.
Education: New Mexico State University – BS in Biology, 1979; University of New Mexico School of Medicine – M.D., 1986; Southeastern Family Practice Residency Program, Medical College of Wisconsin Board Certified in Family Medicine, 1989 – present
Experience: Practiced the full spectrum of Family Medicine from perinatology to geriatrics, including eight years of private practice and seven years traveling to work in clinics from the Alaskan North Slope to small-town New Mexico. Areas of interest include medicine in rural and isolated environments and telemedicine.
Fun Fact: Spent a winter in Antarctica.
Marlin Hoover, Ph.D.
Dr. Hoover is a licensed psychologist in New Mexico and Illinois. He is board certified in Clinical Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, and in Medical Psychology by the American Board of Medical Psychology. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Clinical Psychology and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Psychology. Dr Hoover earned a Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a Postdoctoral Master’s in Clinical Psychopharmacology from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
He was a Faculty member at Saint Xavier University for twenty years, and Chair of the Department of Psychology of Saint Xavier University at Chicago. He has completed research and publications on the relationship between personality and heart disease, training of psychologists, and validation of personality tests.
Besides his teaching responsibilities as a member of the faculty of the Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency. He currently he is an instructor of doctoral clinical psychologists, who are studying to obtain prescription privileges through the New Mexico State University/Southwestern Institute for the Advancement of Psychotherapy Cooperative, and through Fairleigh Dickinson University. Additionally he sees patients for psychotherapy and medication at the Center Through the Looking Glass in Las Cruces and Hoover and associates in Chicago Illinois.
Dr. Hoover also enjoys sailing, tennis, hiking in the mountains and desert, and most kinds of music. He is the married father of two daughters. The Hoovers celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 2007.
Patrick Leung, Pharm.D
Patrick Leung, Pharm.D, is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Memorial Medical Center and a faculty at Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency. He is also a pharmacist clinician at Memorial Medical Center Anticoagulation Management Service. Dr. Leung is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist. He received his Bachelor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Washington State University.
His areas of interest are infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, anticoagulation, and diabetes.
S Erik Vinge, M.D.
Education: Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO—BA in Humanities (History and Political Sciences), 1987; Kansai Gaidai, Hirakatashi, Japan—Exchange Student, 1985; University of Colorado School of Medicine, 1997; Southern New Mexico Family Practice Residency—2000.
My attitude towards life has always been it is the experiences and friendships that one makes that make the journey worthwhile. I have been to six of the seven continents (watch out Antarctica here I come). I still correspond with friends that I have known for years on five of those continents—was not in South America long enough to make any friends. I am proficient in both Japanese and Spanish.
Family Medicine fosters lifelong relationships with patients and exposes you to many new experiences, both of which agree with my overall attitude toward life. My career path has taken me through community health, urgent care/occupational medicine, and two tours of duty in Iraq. Las Cruces provides a unique medical experience where you can see a rocket scientist in one room and migrant worker in the next—and enjoy both of the visits immensely.
My areas of interest in medicine include: sports medicine, border health, and preventative medicine. Of course, I like the staples of family medicine as well: obstetrics, pediatrics, adult medicine and geriatrics.
I joined the faculty in June of 2009 shortly after my last deployment, and I can honestly say that I think I was meant to end up here. I look back on my life experiences such as teaching English as a second language in Japan, teaching medics in Iraq, working with some of the attendings previously in residency and learning how to communicate across cultures, and I feel they make this job as an attending in Las Cruces seem like a perfect fit. Of course, the beautiful climate and mountains of Southern New Mexico suit a person from Colorado like me.