A thyroid and parathyroid specialty clinic—the only one in New Mexico—has a new home at The University of New Mexico Hospital. UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center—A Campus of UNM Hospital (SRMC) is expanding services by creating the Head and Neck Endocrine Clinic to reach more patients who need surgery for thyroid and parathyroid disorders.
“We’re the only comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, fully integrated head and neck endocrine clinic in the state,” Nathan Boyd, MD, said. “We have a beautiful clinic with plenty of space at SRMC. We have the most expertise, most experience and highest volume of thyroid cancer patients in New Mexico.”
Left to Right: Heidi Olson, CNP, Ivan Pinon, MD, Veronica Gonzales, RN, Nathan Boyd, MD. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
Nathan Boyd, MD. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
Nathan Boyd, MD. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
SRMC Head and Neck Endocrine Clinic. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
SRMC Head and Neck Endocrine Clinic. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
Ivan Pinon, MD. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
SRMC Head and Neck Endocrine Clinic. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
Boyd is the director of thyroid and parathyroid surgery at UNM Hospital; he specializes in head and neck oncology. He’s been building the Head and Neck Endocrinology Clinic for more than eight years now. The clinic, which started at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, moved to SRMC last year.
“When we first started this clinic years ago, we were doing about 50 thyroid and parathyroid surgeries a year,” Boyd said. “Now we’re doing roughly 350 surgeries a year here at SRMC and at UNM Hospital in Albuquerque. We have a really high volume of new patients coming into our program.”
According to a 2025 report from UNM, thyroid cancer is among the top 10 most common cancers in New Mexico. Thyroid and parathyroid tumors, although distinct, are related by their proximity in the neck. Thyroid cancer is often asymptomatic and discovered incidentally; parathyroid disorders cause high blood calcium and can cause fatigue, bone and joint pain, as well as many other symptoms. Surgery is the primary treatment for both.
“What we do is thyroid cancer,” Boyd said. “We own that. If somebody has thyroid cancer, we will take them anytime, and we will handle all aspects of their care, from intake, to biopsy, to radiographic imaging, to surgery, to adjuvant therapies and surveillance, when appropriate.”
At SRMC, we’re one of the few places in the whole state where you can see a surgeon and an endocrinologist in the same clinic on the same day. We have a fully integrated clinic. So, all of the people you would need to see for surgical planning and for workup are essentially at that clinic.
– Nathan Boyd, MD, Head and Neck Endocrinology Clinic, SRMC
The Clinic at SRMC
Because thyroid and parathyroid disorders require input from multiple medical specialties, Boyd said you need a team of experts in various areas including endocrinology, surgery, nuclear medicine, radiology, and pathology among others.
“Now at SRMC, we’re one of the few places in the whole state where you can see a surgeon and an endocrinologist in the same clinic on the same day,” Boyd said. “We have a fully integrated clinic. So, all of the people you would need to see for surgical planning and for workup are essentially at that clinic. We also do our own biopsies.”
And as a campus of UNM Hospital, SRMC works collaboratively with specialty teams across UNM Hospital and the UNM Health System to care for patients dealing with thyroid and parathyroid disorders.
“We have a tumor board comprised of members from all those specialties,” Boyd said. “We meet weekly to talk about difficult cases.”
He added that in the entire state of New Mexico, there are only six head and neck oncologic surgeons—all of them at UNM. And when it comes to head and neck endocrine surgeons, there are only four in the state. Three of them are at UNM and part of the Head and Neck Endocrine Clinic team at SRMC.
“We really have a cornered resource, which is the expertise to do the more advanced and complicated cases,” Boyd said. “We have a great clinic at SRMC. We have great physicians. We have room to grow and can definitely accommodate more patients.”
Telehealth Options
Since the clinic at SRMC serves thyroid cancer patients from all over New Mexico, Boyd said utilizing telehealth or remote care options is a priority for the clinic.
“Coming to UNM for this care doesn’t mean you are locked in for your whole life doing follow-ups at SRMC,” he said. “You should come here to benefit from the expertise concentrated around your initial work-up, surgery, and the immediate follow-up care—but then we can do a lot of the ongoing surveillance via telehealth or through collaboration with local providers in your community. That is the model that makes sense for such a big state like New Mexico.”
Thyroid Cancer Outcomes
Boyd has performed more than 2,000 thyroid and parathyroid surgeries over the course of his career.
“Thyroid cancer is generally not a lethal cancer,” he said. “And the surgery, while delicate, is very well tolerated by patients. I love the fact that my experience can be helpful to people and make our patients feel better.”
As the new year kicks off, Boyd and his team at SRMC say they are looking forward to making more patients in New Mexico feel better.
“It's a privilege to be a specialist,” Boyd said. “I'm so lucky that I'm here at UNM, and I get to work with an amazing staff in a beautiful and functional clinic. My surgical colleagues are among the most skilled I have ever worked with, and we have superb endocrinologists that work with us in the clinic. That's a total privilege. But what I really love about my job is that what we do really makes a difference for people.”
Banner and Thumbnail Photos: Left to Right: Heidi Olson, CNP, Ivan Pinon, MD, Veronica Gonzales, RN, Nathan Boyd, MD. Photo Credit: Allan Stone
