Fulfilling A Mother’s Vision: Meet Gold Nugget Awardee Alfredo Arellano
By Mario Vazquez
UTEP Marketing and Communications
As an incoming UTEP student, Alfredo Arellano had no idea what he wanted to study – but his mother had a vision.
“She said I needed to go into nursing,” Arellano said. “When I asked her why that field out of all the possible options, she said it was because I was always looking for ways to help and be of service to others.”
Sometimes, a mother just knows. This year, the vision his mother had for him long ago takes its next step as Alfredo Arellano takes his place as the 2023 College of Nursing Gold Nugget Awardee.
“Alfredo Arellano’s contributions to our community and UTEP cannot be emphasized enough,” said Leslie Robbins, Ph.D., dean of the College of Nursing. “He is directly responsible for providing our region with the most advanced and comprehensive psychiatric care possible. He embodies the culture of care and service that we promote in the College of Nursing, and it is an honor and a privilege to name him our Gold Nugget awardee.”
Today, Arellano owns a private outpatient practice that specializes in transcranial magnetic stimulation, esketamine treatment for depression, mood disorders, geriatric psychiatry, and military and veteran behavioral illnesses. His goal is to heal minds and help hearts by providing the best evidence-based and up-to-date treatments for psychiatric and mental health problems.
“Many people travel out of El Paso to get their psychiatric care,” Arellano said. “I started my practice with the aim of providing the best treatments available, locally so that our community could feel confident with respect to getting the help they needed.”
In addition to being a pioneer in the El Paso psychiatric community, Arellano has also made it a point to help nurture future professionals in the field. He has served as a clinical instructor for UTEP undergraduate students in the past and is currently a preceptor for graduate students. He is also a community, clinical faculty for Texas Tech University’s Department of Psychiatry and School of Nursing.
“There is a shortage of psychiatrics and psychiatric prescribers,” Arellano said. “It is my desire to help people interested in this field get the quality professional experience that I was fortunate to receive as a student.”
Arellano is a proud El Paso native and Cathedral High School graduate who is no stranger to hard work. Raised in Canutillo, Texas, his father owned a local mechanic shop called Overland Garage where he and his brother would work after school doing anything needed, whether it was sweeping the floor or cleaning cars.
“The work ethic was always there from my dad and mom,” Arellano said. “It was expected.”
Once at UTEP, Arellano began the work of making his mother’s vision come true. In addition to being a full-time nursing student at UTEP, Arellano spent his weekends flipping hamburgers and hotdogs at the Wienerschnitzel on Resler and Mesa to make ends meet.
“It was tough and required a lot of discipline,” Arellano recalled. “But I always kept my goal top of mind, which was to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing so I could have a professional career.”
Once Arellano graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1986 and became a registered nurse, his next step was understanding in what nursing specialty he could envision a long-term career.
“I saw that psychiatric nurses often leveraged their interpersonal skills when providing care,” Arellano said. “When I reflected on my personality and pictured my career 50 years down the line, this was the path I could see myself in, so I went for it.” Once he decided on being a psychiatric nurse, Arellano enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing program at UTEP.
As a master’s student, Arellano’s graduate program focused on four core skills that to this day are an integral part of his practice. He learned to be an educator, clinician, consultant and researcher. He earned his MSN in 1990.
“UTEP provided the foundation for the career I have now,” Arellano said. “At every milestone along my career, I have always had a baseline of knowledge to work from, thanks to the education I received at UTEP. For that, I’m more than grateful.”
Much of his gratitude goes to Associate Professor Emeritus Leticia Lantican, Ph.D. Lantican, who served as a professor, director and associate dean during her time at UTEP. She constantly pushed him and his classmates to broaden their horizons.
“When I invited her as my guest to the Gold Nugget Awardee dinner, she accepted and then immediately pivoted to a discussion on research, even though she’s retired,” Arellano recalled with a laugh. “That’s her nature, to always think of what more we can learn and how else we can expand our minds and nursing practice.”
Reflecting on his career thus far, the most satisfying aspect is the newfound hope he sees in his patients after working with them.