UTRGV Internal Medicine Residency at Valley Baptist Medical Center
Director's Welcome
Welcome,
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Internal Medicine Residency Program at Valley Baptist Medical Center (VBMC) welcomes qualified applicants seeking university-based training in a balanced and supportive environment. Our program is a multisite academic community-based program located in Harlingen, Texas, one of the cities of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) initially sponsored our accredited program in 2001 and transitioned to UTRGV in 2015. The program has 30 positions, with 10 positions per PGY level. Throughout this time, we have continued to bring substantial education and clinical resources to the citizens of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Ambulatory experiences are offered through various settings – Su Clinica, a Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC), and the Rio Grande State Center – that provide a broad educational platform for our residents. Our population also changes throughout the year with the annual migrating winter visitors.
Our UTRGV Internal Medicine-VBMC Residency Program offers opportunities for our residents to teach and participate with many learners both in outpatient and inpatient settings including UTRGV medical students, psychiatry residents, surgery residents, and pharmacy students. Some of our resources available consist of a state-of-the-art medical library in Harlingen, a medical research facility in Edinburg, and a growing community of residency programs that include the UTRGV Psychiatry-VBMC Residency Program and the UTRGV Surgery -VBMC Residency Program.
Our residency program maintains the high standards for training and medical care of the University of Texas System. We will prepare you to pursue any career choice, whether you choose primary care practice, fellowship training, or academic medicine. Many of the program’s graduates seeking continued training have successfully joined fellowships.
We also recognize that a well-rounded physician must balance challenging medical training with personal growth. The program provides this necessary balance through one-on-one mentoring by supportive faculty, a humane training schedule, and the many recreational and multicultural opportunities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Scholarly activity is emphasized throughout your training, and we have been successful at obtaining accepted abstracts, poster presentations, and clinical vignettes at regional, state, and national professional conferences for internal medicine. Meetings for residency participation include the South Texas American College of Physicians, American College of Physicians, Society of General Internal Medicine, and Society of Hospital Medicine National Conferences.
We look forward to reviewing your application,
Laura E. Garcia, MD, FACP
UTRGV Internal Medicine Residency Program Director