Remote Surveillance Trailer in Belen, NM

BELEN, N.M. – Some New Mexicans dealt with the aftermath of Wednesday’s intense storms on Thursday.

A viewer sent KOB 4 a video showing water rushing past homes and vehicles in front of her house in Belen. At one point, a white trailer was washed away.

Antonio Lucero was left cleaning up Thursday. He lives near the intersection of Calle De Baca and Highway 116. It’s a complete muddy mess with puddles of water remaining hours after the storm passed.

Lucero says our state’s Department of Transportation placed a canal-like fix and two culverts to keep the water from the arroyo on Calle De Baca from going to his property, but it didn’t work.

He says one of the culverts is plugged, and the second one was taken out. All Lucero wants is a more permanent fix.

“I would like to see DOT or the contractor come in and fix the issue. We’ve already flooded once, and we want to get this done. We’re not looking for damages or anything, we just want them to come and be responsible for what they did,” said Lucero.

Lucero says since Calle De Baca is in a flood area, his worry is with these storms ramping up – and monsoon season still ahead of us – his property can’t take much more flooding.

We did check with DOT on this issue, and they are looking into it for us. They say because of the railroad tracks, there is no formal drainage in the area, and berms have functioned as informal retention ponds.

Following Wednesday night’s excessive rainfall, the ponds overflowed, resulting in localized flooding that has affected nearby residents.

They say there is a meeting scheduled with the local conservancy district and a resident for 8 a.m. Monday to assess the source of the water flow, and understand how residents have previously mitigated flooding. Adding, “it remains unclear whether the flooding was solely due to the unusual volume of rainfall or if the berms require modification or maintenance.”

BELEN — Two Belen Consolidated Schools graduates will make up seven percent of the next cohort of students joining the University of New Mexico’s combined BA/MD degree program as they pursue their careers in medicine.

Veronica Batista and AAliyah Salazar, graduates of Infinity and Belen high schools, respectively, have been admitted into the partnership program between the UNM College of Arts and Sciences and the UNM School of Medicine, which is designed to help address New Mexico’s physician shortage by assembling a class of diverse students who are committed to serving communities across the state.

Each year, only 28 students from across the state are admitted into the eight-year bachelor/doctor of medicine degree program.

Once students complete the full program, they are asked to commit to pursuing a medical career in New Mexico’s rural or medically-under-served areas. According to the program’s website, the majority of New Mexico counties are federally designated as being medically under served.

The idea of serving their community is very important to both Batista and Salazar, with both young women saying that was a key reason for applying to the program.

Salazar, who is interested in pursuing either cardiac surgery or family medicine, said staying in New Mexico to practice medicine is very appealing to her.

“Giving back to my community is the main goal. I love New Mexico and I want to stay here,” Salazar said. “The main goal (of the program) is to make sure that we fix the physician shortage in New Mexico.”

Being able to return “the support and love I’ve been given throughout not only my academic career, but also my entire life,” is what drew Batista to the BA/MD program.

“I really wanted to do something that would give back to my community,” she said. “With this, we give back to rural communities. This program sets you up for success to go anywhere, but they really want to have people who have a love for and call New Mexico home.”

Salazar learned about the combined program when she was a high school junior and went to a spring preview day at UNM’s main campus in Albuquerque with her older sister last year. Wanting to pursue a career in medicine, she spoke with various members of the College of Pharmacy and those in the public health program and learned about the BA/MD program.

“When I went to that presentation, it snapped. It felt like I was in the right place at the right time hearing the right things,” Salazar said.

While the program was new to Salazar, it was well known to Batista. When she was about 7 years old, she went to a career fair at IHS, where her mother, Mary, was the principal at the time.

“I’ve always had my heart set on medicine ... so (my mom) was like, ‘You should go to this table and check it out,’” Batista recalls. “Well, they gave me this pamphlet for the BA/MD program, and I kept it in my journal until I applied last year.”

Now that she’s been accepted into the program, Batista says she’s looking forward to being surrounded by like-minded individuals with a love for New Mexico.

“I had all these concerns and when I walked into the preview day, they nailed every single one of those concerns,” she said. “They were like, ‘Trust me, you’re not the first person to do this. You’re not going to be the last, so we’ve got this.’ They absolutely support their students.”

Salazar, who earned her associate degree in liberal arts from UNM-Valencia this year, as well as being the UNM-VC salutatorian and co-valedictorian at BHS, said she was initially worried about the level of commitment asked for by the program, but now that she’s been accepted, that worry is gone.

“It’s a long time, but I’m ready. I’m excited,” she said.

Batista is looking forward to the long road ahead of her to become a pediatric surgeon.

After seeing her younger brother go through multiple surgeries as a small child, she wanted to pursue surgery rather than just pediatrics.

“It was really when I was called to that. This is something I really want to do and I simply don’t think there’s enough (pediatric surgeons) here in New Mexico,” she said.

Applicants to the program must have at least a 540 in math and 510 in reading on the SATs, and ACT scores of 22 in math and 19 in reading, science and English.

Students first earn a bachelors degree through the UNM College of Arts and Sciences in a four-year curriculum specifically designed to prepare them for medical school, and more importantly, to practice medicine in New Mexico.

After completing the undergraduate academic and eligibility requirements of the program, students will then transition to the School of Medicine to complete their doctor of medicine degree.

All students who are a part of the combined BA/MD degree program receive student support to ensure the successful completion of their education, including a Last Dollar Scholarship and personalized academic advisement.