A graduate of Hanks High School, Dr. Mata began his medical education at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. After graduation he moved to Lubbock, Texas where he completed his general surgery residency training at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. He then pursued his passion of treating patients with vascular disease and moved on to Charleston, West Virginia, where he continued his education and successfully finished a vascular surgery fellowship at West Virginia University's Vascular Center of Excellence.