Javier Iturbe never planned to make the United States his home. He was in medical school at the Universidad Autónoma de México and needed to complete a residency program. So he went to the University of Texas in Houston in 1980 to practice pediatrics.

"I wanted to come for the training and then go back to Mexico," said Dr. Iturbe, one of the lead Latino pediatricians with Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, who practices at Camino Entrada Pediatrics on the south side of town. "But the economy in Mexico was bad. So I stayed."

And he's loved the country since then. His two daughters were born here, and he has found that working with the Hispanic community is a plus, he said. After his residency in Houston, he worked in a pediatric clinic in Brownsville, Texas.

"I felt that I could provide services to the community, and I'm familiar with the culture," Iturbe said.

He started working in Santa Fe in 1990 for Lovelace Medical Center and later transferred to Christus St. Vincent. Five years ago, the hospital decided to open a clinic off Camino Entrada; Iturbe and Dr. Michael Patterson, who are both bilingual, were the primary doctors at the clinic. Now there are four doctors. In the beginning, they saw an average of 16 patients per day. Today, the daily patient numbers range from 22 to 30.

"As a professional, I provide support to the community, not just to the Hispanic community," Iturbe said. "But I do have the advantage of being trained in another country."

This comes in handy, especially when Latino parents show up with their children and have questions about treating symptoms with alternative remedies, such as herbal teas. In the U.S., Latinos often feel alone, away from their families, so they tend to rely on a doctor's advice, Iturbe said.

"I don't scold them for using teas," said Iturbe, who was born in Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico, and grew up in Guerrero. "I do spend a lot of time with them because they come in with lots of questions. I take the time, for example, to explain that a fever is response to the body. Then they understand that they don't always have to rush to urgent care."

On a recent visit, 20-year-old Destiny Martinez had her share of questions for Iturbe regarding her 9-month-old daughter, Madeline Grace Barreras. Martinez's questions ranged from weaning to teething to sodium levels in baby food.

Iturbe patiently answered all of her questions, and gave her additional advice about fish stick brands — the same kind of information Iturbe had provided to his own daughter for his granddaughter, just a couple of months back.

"He is really good. He answers everything," Martinez said after the consultation. "He was my pediatrician, and now he's my daughter's. He's a good doctor, so we trust him with our lives and most importantly, our children's."