Program Features
Residency Core Curriculum
Family Medicine Orientation
During the four-week orientation block the new interns are taught the basics of what the intern year will consist of. Interns are oriented to one week of each; night float, inpatient family medicine, obstetrics; and pediatrics, and continuity clinic. This is an invaluable opportunity to learn how things work and hit the ground running when first block starts.
Inpatient Family Medicine
The team consists of two interns, one second-year resident and a third-year resident. The intern carries the majority of the patient load with the second year caring for the rest and the third-year overseeing the service. We see a wide variety of disease processes on our hospital service and have a presence in every area of the hospital. We also have built-in daily teaching time after pre-rounds are completed. The family medicine attending physician or upper level resident will teach a topic and residents participate in discussion. As family medicine physicians, we perform numerous types of procedures while on the inpatient medicine service. This includes paracentesis, thoracentesis, central line placement, intubation, joint aspiration, and most other acute care procedures that a hospitalized patient may need.
Obstetrics and Pediatrics
The OB/Peds team at CHI St. Joseph consists of a PGY-1, PGY-2, and PGY-3 resident. The OB/Peds service delivers babies, and then cares for both new moms and newborns in the nursery. The service also admits all pediatric patients to CHI St. Joseph. Common diagnoses include pneumonia, dehydration, newborn sepsis rule-outs, jaundice, and RSV. We have a reliable pediatrician consult service for more high-risk patients. The pediatricians also provide didactics learning. This is another procedure-heavy service, with numerous vaginal deliveries, cesarean sections, and circumcisions performed in the hospital. We care for many high-risk pregnancies.
Night Float
The night float team consists of an intern and an upper level who cover anything that comes into the hospital — either our patients or “city call” patients who don’t have a physician. Needless to say, this is where you will get significant procedural numbers and experience in basic management of both medicine, pediatric and obstetric patients. The ER physicians know we want to learn all things and frequently call us to come help with intubations, central lines, or any other emergent procedure. The nurses on every floor also know we have residents in house 24/7 so if there is something that needs to be done emergently — like a stat vaginal delivery — they call us. It is a fun and rewarding service where you will learn more than you thought possible, both medically and procedurally. This is truly where you learn to “do it all.”
Ambulatory Family Medicine
Provide continuity, walk-in visits and procedural care within the Texas A&M Health Family Care Clinic.
Trauma Surgery/Emergency Medicine
We rotate with a local trauma surgeon who loves to teach. Residents have the opportunity to do hospital rounds and scrub in and first assist on all cases. Once rounds are completed, interns work at CHI St. Joseph Emergency Room seeing patients and performing procedures
ER Night Float
PGY-2 residents work at CHI St. Joseph Emergency Room during p.m. hours (7 p.m. to 4 a.m., Sunday through Thursday) seeing patients and performing procedures with ER attending physicians.
Gynecology
Longitudinal rotation in the Texas A&M Physicians clinic. We learn the basics of well-woman care, in addition to post-menopausal problems and treatment of infertility with our office gynecologist as well as our Family Physicians. With our Women’s Health grant we are able to provide breast and pap exams, mammograms, breast biopsies, colposcopy and LEEP/CONE, to uninsured and underinsured patients in the Brazos Valley.
Orthopedics/Sports Medicine
Dr. Laura Marsh is the director of the sports medicine fellowship and is a primary care sports medicine physician based out of Central Texas Sports Medicine. She and the rest of our primary care sports medicine team provide care for Texas A&M Athletics and for various high schools in the area. During this rotation, you will work with both athletes and non-athletes who have musculoskeletal injuries or issues. The focus of this outpatient rotation is learning how to perform an excellent musculoskeletal exam and start to develop a treatment plan. We have a specific procedure clinic where you will become very competent in performing joint injections both with and without ultrasound guidance. We also rotate with other community sports medicine physicians and orthopedic surgeons who enjoy teaching the next generation of physicians.
Intensive Care/Medical ICU
This is a second-year rotation where we focus primarily on patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The primary goal of this rotation is to learn how to manage ICU patients and patients on a ventilator, and to coordinate care for difficult patients among many specialists. Our community specialists are second to none and love to teach.
Surgical Subspecialty (Urology/Othalmology)/ENT/Dermatology
Residents receive concentrated exposure to these specialties. The purpose of these rotations is to teach the common conditions (including diagnosis and treatment) of each specialty and how they relate to family medicine.
Psych/Behavioral Health
Rotate through our integrated behavioral health clinic within the Texas A&M Family Care Clinic. Learn how to take a thorough psychiatric history and diagnosis, treatment options with our team including Psychologist, Family Physician and Graduate students. Spend time at MHMR with child psychiatry. Dedicated education in medication assistance and treatment.
Clinical Facilities
Texas A&M Health Family Care
On June 30, 2011, the Texas A&M College of Medicine celebrated what was then called the Texas A&M Physicians Family Medicine division, now Texas A&M Health Family Care, with a ribbon cutting at its new facility at 2900 East 29th Street in Bryan. The clinic is part of our important commitment to improving the health of people of the Brazos Valley.
Of the building's approximately 32,000 square feet, Texas A&M Health Family Care
occupies about 20,500 square feet. The space is used for a comprehensive family medicine clinic and for the education of family medicine residents and medical students, as well as students in other health professions. The clinic includes an in-house lab, radiology suite, endoscopy suite, classroom, administrative offices and a dedicated resident space.
CHI St. Joseph Health and St. Joseph College Station Medical Center
St. Joseph Health System traces its origins to 1936 when St. Joseph Regional Health Center was founded by the Sisters of St. Francis, Sylvania, Ohio, in response to a call from a local physician. CHI St. Joseph Health became part of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), one of the nation’s largest health systems, in 2014. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, CHI operates in 19 states and comprises 103 hospitals.
CHI St. Joseph is part of the CHI Texas Division, which includes CHI St. Luke’s Health, CHI St. Luke’s Health Memorial and CHI St. Luke’s Health Brazosport. Through this clinically integrated network of providers, facilities and ancillary services, CHI Texas Division covers patient lives throughout the Brazos Valley, Houston, Lufkin, Lake Jackson and surrounding areas.
As the major medical referral center for the 12-county Brazos Valley area, CHI St. Joseph Health has consistently responded to the community's medical needs by providing comprehensive, quality health care. It is home to the Brazos Valley’s only Level II trauma center, the first Joint Commission-certified primary stroke center and the first accredited chest pain center in the Brazos Valley. HealthGrades, an independent healthcare ratings organization, recently named CHI St. Joseph Regional #1 in the state of Texas for overall orthopedic services, which includes joint replacement and spine surgery.
CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital in Bryan recently doubled the size of its Emergency and Trauma Center. This hospital specializes in orthopedics, neuroscience, cardiology, oncology and women’s services and holds a number of accreditations, including Breast Center of Excellence, Level IV Chest Pain Center and Bariatric Center of Excellence.
- 300+ licensed beds
- Nearly 2,000 Employees
- 400+ Medical Staff
- 13,000+ Annual Admissions
- 65,000+ Emergency Department Visits
Cuero Regional Hospital
Cuero Regional Hospital has expanded over the years to accommodate the changing needs of patients and the rapid advancement of medical technology. Governed by the board of directors, Cuero Regional offers many health care services larger city hospitals have, including:
- Emergency medical services
- 24/7 ER services
- Inpatient care
- Hospitalist program
- Inpatient surgery
- Day surgery
- Outpatient specialty center
- Radiology (64-slice CT scanner, women's center that houses digital mammography and bone densitometry)
- High Field True Open MRI system
- Nuclear medicine
- Childbirth center
- Sleep study center
- Physical therapy (including aquatic therapy)
Clinical Offerings
Lab Services
- Full complement blood, urine, and specimen testing
- In-House Diabetic Retinopathy screening
Ultrasound (three ultrasound machines available)
- Vascular: Carotid, aortic, DVT evaluation, thyroid
- Obstetrical: Used for routine obstetric visits and any high-risk obstetrical complications and diagnosis
- Orthopedic: High-resolution ultrasound used specifically to look at bones, ligaments and tendons
Women's health including obstetric and gynecological care
- Regular gynecological exams
- Pap smears
- Breast exams
- Prenatal care
Physical Exams & Stress Tests
- General physical exams
- Pre-employment screening
- Back-to-school physical exams
- Diagnostic stress tests
Additional procedures performed in clinic
- Colonoscopies
- Esophagogastroduodenoscopies, or EGD
- Long-Acting Reversible Contraception
- Endometrial Biopsies
- Dermatological surgeries
- Pulmonary function testing (Spirometry)
- Musculoskeletal steroid injections
- Vasectomies
- X-rays (in clinic with full-time technician)
Resident Training
We’re excited you are considering Family Medicine, the greatest specialty within one of the noblest professions on Earth. A well-trained family physician is the most complete, most valuable doctor there is, diagnosing and treating nearly everything he or she comes across. They are the only ones who eagerly answer “yes” whenever someone asks, “Is there a doctor in the house?”— no matter the situation. Helping you achieve that sense of fulfillment is our specialty.
That is, of course, if you get top-notch residency training. Whether you want to be the old-time family doctor (caring for the whole family, delivering babies, operating, managing inpatients, working the sidelines as a team doctor) or you want to carve out your own niche, Texas A&M Family Medicine Residency can help you realize your goals. This is why you went into medicine; now come get the best training in the country.
Texas A&M has the facilities, physicians and volume to give you the proficiency you need, and so much more. Ours is an unopposed (meaning no other residencies in the area), community-based program that specializes in comprehensive training. Our graduates have a scope of practice greater than their peers, and choose to develop skills you can’t acquire at most residency programs.
Visit our site, and you’ll get to meet our residents and see some of their procedural numbers. You won’t find comprehensive procedural experience like this anywhere else in the country. You’ll also get to read about some of the unique educational opportunities we offer at Texas A&M. The future of medicine is in well-rounded family physicians who can perform medical, procedural, surgical and preventative care. That’s what we do best.
We’re looking for motivated individuals who want to become the elite of all family physicians. If this interests you, we’d love to have you join our outstanding team. Contact Teri Musia to schedule a rotation; this is the best way to really understand what we do. We are interested in helping you through the difficult process of selecting a specialty and a residency program.
Resident Procedures
Learn skills beyond those of most family physicians. In addition to core procedures, we teach vasectomy, skin surgery, advanced ultrasound (vascular, thyroid, muskuloskeletal), central line, lumbar puncture, thoracentesis/paracentesis, IUD placement, cervical biopsy and excision, and more. At Texas A&M we value teaching to competency, not to a target number. Contact us for more information
Unopposed Training
With no other residents or fellows in this community, we manage it all. An unopposed program is the only way to go for full-spectrum training.
Comprehensive Obstetrics
If you are interested in obstetrics, you can pursue our advanced OB track. Residents on this track benefit from higher volume of both low-risk and high-risk continuity patients. We have recently partnered with the local Prenatal Clinic to serve their indigent population as primary provider. Advanced OB residents also are the primary surgeon on C-sections, D&Cs, and tubal ligations for both our patients as well as community OBs. If you're not interested, you will have only the required OB rotations each year
Sports Medicine
Our fellowship-trained faculty are the team doctors for four local high schools and Texas A&M Athletics. You can be too. Learn basic and advanced sports medicine techniques to enhance your practice (including musculoskeletal ultrasound, athlete ekg interpretation, stress testing, fluoro-guided procedures, advanced fracture management and much more.)
Osteopathic
Texas A&M Family Medicine Residency encourages and is committed to ongoing training in osteopathic principles and practice of manipulative medicine. Our clinic has several manipulation tables (or "OMT" table) that allow the doctors to adjust a patient's body by manipulating the skeleton and muscles to alleviate pain and promote wellness. In this way, our doctors employ hands-on care in addition to prescribing medication for relief.
Endoscopy
Residents can take part in our Advanced Endoscopy Track, where they will participate in a longitudinal curriculum and perform colonoscopies and EGDs with our faculty physicians in our clinic's state of the art Procedure Suite. In 2011 we were awarded a $2.7million grant to update and expand our colonoscopy program. If you want endoscopy in your practice, we will get you the numbers you need for privileging.
International Rotations
Our residents can use elective time to pursue international rotations. Some have travelled to Africa, Asia, and Central/South America with our skilled faculty to serve remote communities. Whether you are interested in general surgery, OB, trauma, tropical medicine, or public health, you can learn beyond your expectations.