Mcallen, RGV. The McAllen Family Medicine Residency Program, the longest running graduate medical education program in the Rio Grande Valley, is benefitting from a recent $13,000 donation from the McAllen Medical Center Foundation to assist residents with scholarly activities that promote healthcare in the South Texas community.
The McAllen Medical Center Foundation is a non-profit entity established in 1993 to fund charitable and educational causes. The McAllen Medical Center Foundation, led by a 3-member board, provides scholarships to students entering the medical field and continues to support worthwhile educational opportunities to benefit the healthcare needs of the Rio Grande Valley. In 2015, the McAllen Medical Center Foundation gifted $100,000 to the South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. The McAllen Medical Center Foundation continues its commitment to improving the lives of residents through the latest round of giving.
McAllen Family Medicine Residency Program is a 3-year medical education program with a mission of creating quality family medicine doctors. Since 1979, the program has graduated 199 physicians, many of whom currently practice medicine in South Texas. In 2015, the program became affiliated with the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. The 18 residents at the program see hospitalized patients at McAllen Medical Center and patients of all ages at the McAllen Family Medicine Residency Clinic.
“Funding such as this helps our residents stay up to date in their studies through online review courses and professional memberships, and it helps residents with their research and quality improvement projects,” said Sunand Kallumadanda, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor and UTRGV Family Medicine-MMC Associate Program Director.
Current residents and faculty have completed quality improvement projects related to medication reconciliation, improving physician documentation for coding and billing, and finding ways to expedite patient throughput time without sacrificing quality. Research projects underway at the McAllen Family Medicine Residency Program include antepartum care, diabetes management standard of care, warfarin management, and physicians’ response to domestic violence.
