Our Regional Dean
Timothy Benton, MD
Dr. Benton received his medical degree from the Ï㽶ֱ²¥ School of Medicine in 1994 and completed a residency in Family Medicine from the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler. In addition, he completed a faculty development fellowship from the Keck School of Medicine with the University of Southern California in 2006.
Dr. Benton joined the Ï㽶ֱ²¥ School of Medicine faculty in Amarillo in 2005, where
he served as the Associate Residency Program Director and eventually the Program Director.
In 2012, he was recruited to be the Regional Chair of the Department of Family and
Community Medicine in the Permian Basin where he began focusing his energies on the
residency program and patient care. His tireless work as Regional Chair include the
following highlights:
• Primary care expansion and access to care (department patient visits up from 18,000
to 22,000 per year)
• Numerous community healthcare collaborations with the UT Permian Basin and Odessa
College, the Ector County Health Department (Associate Health Authority), the Permian
Basin Community Center Clinic and others; active working relationship with both Midland
Memorial Hospital and Medical Center Hospital
• Expansion of the Family Medicine residency program from 6 positions to 16 positions
per year (recent spotlight in the April 2021 Texas Medicine edition)
• Development of a rural residency training program with Andrews, Fort Stockton and
Sweetwater, Texas
• Orchestrating a Hospitalist Fellowship Program
• Awarded a 1115 Waiver Grant of $3 million
• Growing the departmental faculty from 6 to 17+
• Collaboration with and medical director for the Ï㽶ֱ²¥ School of Health Professions
Physician Assistant program