Faculty
Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program Director

- Professor
- Surgical Critical Care Director
- General Surgery, Trauma/Surgical Critical Care
Dr. McLean joined the department of surgery, Texas Tech Health El Paso faculty in 1998. She is a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia. She took her surgery internship and general surgery residency at Brown University and graduated in 1994. She went on to a surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and completed all requirements in 1995. She stayed on as an instructor in surgery for one year; then to the Mayo Medical School and Clinic Foundation in Minnesota until 1998. She is board certified in both general surgery and surgical critical care.
Chair, Department of Surgery

- Professor
- Chair of Surgery
- Trauma Medical Director
- General Surgery, Trauma/Surgical Critical Care
Alan H. Tyroch, M.D., FACS, FCCM, is a fifth-generation native Texan. He is professor and founding chair of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery. Dr. Tyroch is also chief of surgery and trauma medical director at University Medical Center of El Paso.
After obtaining his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas A&M University, Dr. Tyroch earned his Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas. He is a graduate of the Phoenix Integrated Surgical Residency Program in Phoenix, Arizona. He has also furthered his surgical education with fellowships in trauma and surgical critical care at the University of California, San Francisco Fresno Medical Education Program in Fresno, California.
Dr. Tyroch is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care. He is a member in the American College of Surgeons, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Texas Surgical Society, Southwestern Surgical Congress, American Trauma Society, Pan-American Trauma Society, Pediatric Trauma Society, Western Surgical Association, Association for Academic Surgery, Association for Surgical Education, Society of Surgical Chairs, American Burn Association, ACS-South Texas Chapter, Texas Medical Association and El Paso County Medical Society.
Dr. Tyroch is also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Tyroch is the chair on the Governor’s Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Advisory Council. He is an active member in the BorderRAC, the Far West Texas and Southern New Mexico Regional Advisory Council on Trauma and Emergency Healthcare. His clinical and research interests are trauma, surgical critical care, acute care surgery and general surgery.

- Professor
- Trauma & Acute Care Surgery
- Associate Trauma Medical Director
- Pediatric Trauma Medical Director

- Associate Professor
- Trauma & Acute Care Surgery
- Associate Trauma Medical Director - UMC of El Paso

- Associate Professor
- Burn, Trauma, and Acute Care Surgery
- Director of the El Paso Burn Center
Dr. Fidler, a board-certified surgeon with extensive expertise in burn surgery, trauma, and surgical critical care, joins UMC with more than two decades of leadership in burn centers across the United States. He has completed fellowships in Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care at Yale School of Medicine and Burn Surgery at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital and Shriners Hospital for Children.
Throughout his career, Dr. Fidler has served as Medical Director at multiple burn centers, including the Andrew J. Panettieri Burn Center in Connecticut and the Burn and Reconstructive Centers of Colorado. He has also held academic appointments at institutions such as Georgetown School of Medicine and Yale School of Medicine, where he trained future surgeons in burn and trauma care.
In addition to his clinical expertise, Dr. Fidler has contributed significantly to burn-related research, prevention initiatives, and medical education. His work includes numerous invited lectures worldwide and leadership roles with the American Burn Association and the North American Burn Society. He is also President of the REACH Burn Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to adaptive sports and recovery programs for burn survivors.

- Associate Professor
- Trauma & Acute Care Surgery
- Emergency Surgery Medical Director
- Emergency Surgery Research Director

- Assistant Professor
- Trauma & Acute Care Surgery
Dr. Swinney is a Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon with specialized training in Surgical Critical Care.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Maritime Systems Engineering from Texas A&M University at Galveston in 1999, commissioning as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy upon graduation. He went on to complete Naval Aviator flight training, earning his “Wings of Gold” in 2000 through the Strike Fighter program. Assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129, he trained in the EA-6B Prowler and deployed multiple times to the Middle East in support of Operations Northern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom. Over the course of his 15-year military career (1999–2014), Dr. Swinney directly supported the U.S. War on Terror, earning five Air Medals among numerous other commendations, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He further advanced his military education at the Naval War College, where he received a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies.
Following his military service, Dr. Swinney transitioned to medicine, completing the Georgetown University Special Master’s Program with a Master of Science in Physiology and Biophysics. He then earned his medical degree at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, Texas, and completed a General Surgery residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, where he was honored as the Texas Surgical Society Raleigh Ross Scholar during his Chief Residency. He then pursued advanced fellowship training in Surgical Critical Care at Creighton University Phoenix.
Dr. Swinney’s clinical interests include Trauma, Acute Care Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care, with a strong commitment to advancing patient outcomes in high-acuity surgical settings.
