RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
by William L. Henrich, MD, MACP
The School of Medicine at the
University of Texas Health
Science Center at San Antonio
sponsors more than 50 Graduate
Medical Education programs including
24 residency programs and 27 fellowships.
Of these programs, 57 percent
have achieved the 5 year maximum
cycle length awarded by the
Accreditation Council for Graduate
Medical Education (ACGME), the
body that accredits GME programs in
the U.S.
This means the programs have met
and exceeded all of the requirements
as set by the ACGME. The School of
Medicine is the Sponsoring
Institution, and is also accredited for
the 5 year maximum cycle.
ACGME includes 28 Review
Committees. Of the 28 elected chairs,
four are held by our own UTHSCSA
faculty. While we’ve had a number of
Review Committee members over the
years, this is the first time that the
chair positions have been so heavily
concentrated among our faculty. They
include:
Chair, Nuclear Medicine RRC,
Dr. Darlene Metter
Chair, Urology, Dr. Ian Thompson
Chair, Resident Committee,
Dr. V. Seenu Reddy
Chair-elect, Anesthesiology,
Dr. Lois Bready
This is critical to UTHSCSA because
these individuals are not involved in
setting the standards for program
accreditation; they fundamentally
understand the entire AGGME
process. They are able to use that
knowledge to improve our programs
and raise the bar for our residents.
Our partnerships with the various
medical facilities in the area are
essential to the continued growth
and success of our programs. We
have many programs in which we
partner with Military Medicine. In
four of our programs (General
Surgery, Psychiatry, Nephrology and
Nuclear Medicine), the UTHSC programs
have active duty members
among their enrolled trainees.
All of our programs approach
medicine as a scholarly and multidisciplinary
process. An example of
this is our Surgery program, which,
at seven years, is two years longer
than the standard U.S. surgery program.
This allows our residents to
focus those additional two years on
research. We find that it is essential
that our residents develop a broad
perspective of how their specialties
fit into the care of the whole patient,as well as understanding and appreciation
for the essential role of
scholarly activity.
There are many ways in which residency
programs have changed over
the years, and we are working hard
to ensure that the graduates of our
programs are well able to provide
the highest quality of medical care,
understand the importance of multidisciplinary
teams in that care, and
are able to pursue practice and academic
opportunities.
Warm regards,
William L. Henrich, MD, MACP
Dean, School
of Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs
John P. Howe, III, MD Distinguished Chair
in Health Policy
