Dean Eldon Smith, MD, is the youngest son of Mr. Stanley Orville and Mrs. Mary Jane Smith. He was raised in California and Louisiana, but has embraced El Paso as his home since 1977. He fulfilled his childhood ambition of becoming a physician and has served our community with compassion and care while delivering excellence in Spine Surgery.

Tell me about your parents, did you come from a family of physicians?

No I did not. My father was an engineer for a company called TRW Engineers Inc. My Mom did part time accounting when she was young and decided to go back to LSU and become a nurse. I was in High School at the time and remember her talking about medicine all the time; just listening to how excited she was, that’s how I got into medicine.

Who is your role model and why?

I had an Uncle, Henry Eugene Jones, who was a physician. He has always been my role model. I spent the summer with him in a small town called Sterlington, Louisiana. He was the family doctor there and I worked in his clinic where I saw what he did and thought it was fascinating. I also noticed the way the community respected him and how much he cared about his patients. I thought that’s what I’m going to do someday. I remember one day, we were in a store and this little old man walked up to him who was limping from a bad knee. My Uncle said: “Hey come by my office, I’ll give you a shot.” So the next day, he went by the office and my uncle gave him a shot in the knee. Almost immediately, the guy started walking around better and I saw that and thought…THAT’S MAGIC!… THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO DO!

Why did you choose surgery?

I always wanted to go into family medicine. I was planning to go back and work with my Uncle, but while in Medical School I was choosing rotations and a friend of mind said “Hey my Dad’s an Orthopedic Surgeon why don’t you go work with him?” So I went. I remember a specific surgery in which there was a little old lady who had suffered a broken hip. The Surgeon brought her to the operating room and put in a new hip really quickly, and I thought, “Oh that’s crazy good, that’s what I want to do!” That’s what made me want to go into Orthopedics. I find along the line in life, you keep bumping into people who lead you in different ways.

What motivates you/ what are you passionate about?…

I love what I do. I love seeing somebody arrive in pain, and then being able to help them and fix it …making them happy, the hugs I receive, it’s all a blessing.

What are some of the challenges you face in your profession?

Mostly my staff, if you saw what I put up with…no I’m kidding. Probably everything I do is challenging. It’s kind of like a mechanic…you have to find the problem, get the problem fixed, and make the patron happy with the results. Successfully fixing the problem is only half of it, making the patient happy is the other.

How do you give back to our
community?

We give a lot of free care. If someone does not have insurance, we will help them.

What makes you laugh the most?

I have a very dry sense of humor. I laugh at Monty Python and stuff like that. That’s the kind of stuff I think is funny.

Since it’s the Christmas Edition, how old were you when you realized Santa wasn’t real?

What do you mean Santa isn’t real? (He laughs) probably when I was about 11 years old.

What is your favorite family Christmas tradition?

On Christmas Eve, we have a dinner and open presents. The next morning more gifts would be there. When I was a kid we’d open all the gifts on Christmas Eve and the next day we’d get up early to play with them and then there would be more gifts! My parents would say “Oh wow, Santa must have come, great memories.”

What’s next for Dr. Smith?

Retire, fade into the sunset (he laughs)…I’m always looking for new technology or new minimally invasive procedures to improve outcomes for my patients. Hopefully inventing the next big thing myself would be the best, but I’m always asking what is the newest, most cutting edge technology available…that’s kind of my Christmas, those are my toys.

What advice do you have for the next generation?…

If you work hard, you can get ahead. Nowadays it seems like people have the misconception that something is owed to them. In reality you’re going to have set backs, but it’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up. Work hard and you’ll get ahead.

How do you hope to be remembered?

I probably won’t be remembered (he laughs), perhaps helping save lives one disc at a time.

Who would win in Spiderman vs. Batman?

Spiderman, absolutely. Batman is smart and he has special stuff that he uses but he’s just a human. The other guy is a SPIDER!