José M. Torrijos, MD

Background

Dr. José M. Torrijos is a board-certified adult psychiatrist licensed in the State of Texas. He earned his medical degree in 2005 from Universidad Dr. José Matías Delgado in El Salvador.

From 2008 to 2012 he completed his adult psychiatry residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, serving as Chief Resident during his final year.

Clinical experience

Dr. Torrijos has practised at both ends of psychiatric care. He worked as an attending psychiatrist in the emergency psychiatry department and in outpatient services at Maimonides Medical Center, and at the Behavioral Health Crisis Clinic at Memorial Hermann in Houston, Texas.

Those settings gave him substantial expertise in psychiatric emergencies and in the careful assessment of complex, multicultural populations — the practical skill of understanding a person regardless of cultural background, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or religious belief.

Since 2015 he has worked as an outpatient psychiatrist at UT Physicians, Harris Health Center in Baytown, Texas (through 2017), and at Legacy Community Health Services, serving Baytown, Harris County and other parts of Texas through telehealth.

How he practises

Throughout his career, Dr. Torrijos has built his work around rapport: listening attentively, giving patients ample room to express their own ideas and needs, and making sure no one ever feels pressured into a quick decision.

He considers each person’s particular situation and works collaboratively to assess what they need. He is committed to understanding patients as individuals and to making them feel comfortable and welcomed — balancing humour and seriousness as appropriate, and adapting to each patient’s own learning and therapeutic style.

The goal is never to get through the appointment. It is to actually understand what is happening to you.

Languages

Dr. Torrijos is a native Spanish speaker and practises fully in both English and Spanish. Spanish-speaking patients receive the entire course of care in their own language — evaluation, explanation of diagnosis, discussion of treatment options and all written materials — without an interpreter.