One of the more unique physician couples in San Antonio medicine, the hemisphere-hopping Alvarezes took up residence last summer on the lure of a fellowship for husband Dr. Allen Alvarez.

“What brought us was the fellowship in laparoscopic surgery with Dr. Morris Franklin, which I am just now completing,” Allen said.

Franklin pioneered laparoscopic surgery on the gallbladder and later advanced its use in colon cancer for the purpose of reconnecting colon sections. Franklin and Dr. Jeffrey Glass have run the Texas Endosurgery Institute for the last 20 years and provide education and research for medical students, residents and practicing physicians from all over the world.

It was an opportunity Allen couldn’t pass up. He has since opted to stay with Franklin and Glass and be part of their plan to continue Southeast Surgical Associates; this surgery clinic shares offices with the TEI, but has a broader mission.

Southeast Surgical Associates is dedicated to minimally invasive surgeries of the colon, intestine, stomach and the hepatobiliary system (liver, gallbladder and bile ducts).

“As a general surgeon, I’ll also treat some head, neck, skin, breast and soft tissue diseases,” Allen said. “That pretty much covers everything but the brain and eyes.”

Moving to San Antonio puts Allen near his origins. He grew in Brownsville, the first generation American son of Cuban parents. While still on the Texas-Mexico border, Allen’s first exposure to medicine was as a paramedic. He knew then he would stay in medicine.

Allen first came to San Antonio in 1989 to get his nursing degree from the University of the Incarnate Word. He also completed his pre-requisites for medical school before traveling to paradise locations such as Hawaii and Miami to practice nursing.

He then went to medical school in Mexico at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara. That is where he met his future wife, Dr. Aixa Alvarez.

Aixa has had a lifelong interest in medicine. She has an uncle who is a physician and a grandmother with a doctorate degree.

“Education was always a strong family value,” Aixa said.

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Albany, N.Y., Aixa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training/ sports medicine from Russell Sage College. Growing up, she excelled in track and field, field hockey, gymnastics and diving, and she even played on an all-men’s softball team in medical school.

She recently completed her first sprint triathlon in Austin. It involved a half-mile swim, 12-mile bicycle ride and 5-kilometer run.

“I think staying in athletics helps me relate to my patients more,” Aixa said.

While her husband developed his surgical skills, Aixa began treating patients at Downtown Baptist and Metropolitan Methodist Hospitals on the acute rehabilitation floor. In partnership with Dr. Manjusha Gunuganti, she opened an outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic on June 1 at 311 Camden St. There she plans on seeing her follow-up visits from the hospital, as well as treat patients with sports medicine injuries, musculoskeletal injuries, chronic pain management, arthritis and many other rehabilitation conditions.

Aixa is also trained in electromyography and does various injections such as intra-articular corticosteroid injections, trigger point injections and Botox injections for spasticity.

“With rehab medicine, there’s a lot of potential for growth,” Aixa said. “We tend to see a broad spectrum of patients, from pediatrics to geriatrics and everything in between, including athletes of all levels.”

Allen didn’t stop his travels when he met Aixa in Guadalajara. They traveled together to the state of Chiapas in southernmost Mexico, for instance.

“We treated the indigenous Mayans, mostly in obstetrics,” Allen said. “That was a different kind of medicine. You are thrown into the wild; they just need all the help they can get.”

As opposed to medical schools in the United States where students essentially shadow other doctors, the emphasis at the medical school in Guadalajara is hands-on training, the Alvarezes said.

“You learn to diagnose and treat with very little resources,” Aixa said.

Half of their fourth year was in Chiapas. The other half was in La Paz, Baja California Sur. “Basically, it was a lot of sunshine and beach – a true honeymoon for us in between the long hours training in the ICU,” said Allen, waxing nostalgic about La Paz.

Upon completing medical school, the Alvarezes moved to New York City to perform their residencies – Allen in general surgery and Aixa in physical medicine and rehabilitation – at St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan in Greenwich Village. It was the first time for both of them living in New York City.

Ironically, the hospital where they did their residency shut its doors shortly after they left. St. Vincent’s Hospital, after 160 years of operation, closed April 30 citing financial troubles. Allen and Aixa were in the last graduating class.

In considering San Antonio as their next destination, the Alvarezes had thoughts of settling down for an extended stay somewhere. They have two daughters: Aleina is 2 years old, and Ailani is 5 months.

“Everyone I talked to about San Antonio said they loved it,” Allen said. “It’s a very nice place to raise a family.”

But after spending time in the Big Apple, Allen added that it helped having been from Texas originally.

“It’s easier to bring a Texan to New York than it is to bring a New Yorker to Texas,” he said. “And Aixa loves it here.”

For more information on Allen and his work, visit www.texasendosurgery.com. For more information on Aixa, please visit www.mhshealth.com.