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Profile: El Paso Native Dr. Alberto Contreras, Infectious Disease Specialist At UMC

UMC Staff

Dr. Alberto Contreras is an infectious disease doctor at UMC. A native of El Paso, he grew up with a keen interest in science and wanted to do something in life where he could help people.

“I guess I always knew I liked science. And when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life, in my mind I was thinking, ‘I know I like these two things—-science…[and] people. What can I do to combine them? And so that’s what led me into medicine, Contreras said.

Contreras said he realized he did not want to focus on just one particular part of the body, and sought out a field that would allow him to treat patients for a variety of medical issues.

“I knew I didn’t want to focus just on teeth or just feet. So I feel like medicine…focused on the person entirely—created more variety than some other science fields. And so that’s why I decided to go into infectious disease,” he said.

Contreras said as an infectious disease specialist he sees a variety of common bacterial and viral infections that other doctors see, such as urinary tract infections, pneumonias and other respiratory infections like flu or covid. But, his approach is to try to find creative solutions to solve more stubborn infections. 

“Where I come more into play is, “Okay. I have this infection, this UTI, but I have no more antibiotics to treat it with. What are we going to do now? And so that’s where I come in a little bit more…maybe I have some trick up my sleeve that I can try to fix it, or maybe it’s some weird infection that other people have never heard of, and don’t know how to treat. And then, well, they call me.” Contreras added.

He said that he always tries to put myself in the patient’s position, and seeks to find a way to make them feel more comfortable, to make them understand what’s going on, and likes to explain the issues and risks of the disease and the treatment where applicable.

“And so sometimes I feel like I give too much information, but I think it’s better as a patient like I would like to know everything that’s going on,” Contreras said.

He said he feels that the community may not fully realize that UMC is a full service medical system and that it does an exceptional job of patient care and has a wide array of patient services. 

“I think that’s something people in the community sometimes fail to realize that we’re a place for everyone,” he added.

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