The newest residents at the Graduate Medical Education (GME) clinic at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth began seeing primary care patients July 1. The internal medicine residents see patients under the supervision of an attending physician.

Located just above the Emergency Department at Texas Health Fort Worth, the GME clinic is not an urgent care facility but rather a primary care practice staffed by residents and fully licensed physicians. It’s similar to the clinic at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas campus that is also staffed by residents to care for the community.

“There’s a huge need for primary care in the Fort Worth community, where a large percentage of the population does not have a designated primary care physician,” said Hilary Ryder, M.D., program director for the internal medicine GME program at Texas Health Fort Worth. “There is also a need among people leaving the hospital who either don’t have a primary care physician designated for follow-up or can’t get in to see their PCP within a week or two of discharge, when they are most fragile.”

Growing with the community

The GME clinic helps patients who have perhaps relied exclusively on urgent care clinics for their primary care needs or for managing acute episodes of care. The clinic offers same-day appointments, available in person or virtually, and an on-site lab that offers convenient testing services.

The Fort Worth GME clinic is also a practical alternative for Texas Health Physicians Group (THPG) primary care clinics that are experiencing longer wait times to schedule appointments or are simply not accepting new patients. The GME clinic is a THPG-run ambulatory facility, so case managers can refer patients knowing they can use the same types of insurance accepted by their THPG primary care providers.

“The internal medicine GME program at Texas Health Fort Worth is part of our commitment to being a good community partner,” said Shawn Parsley, D.O., president and chief operations officer for THPG. “We know that many physicians tend to practice medicine in the cities where they completed their residencies, so the GME clinic at Texas Health Fort Worth is part of an excellent residency training program that will draw new physicians to the region.”

Training to retain

To provide a well-rounded experience, the residents of the GME clinic will practice in multiple healthcare settings, working in the clinic, conducting rounds in the hospital, consulting in subspecialty clinics, treating patients in intensive care units and going everywhere an internal medicine physician could expect to find themselves.

“I think the advantage patients of the GME clinic will enjoy is being attended to by two doctors every time – an experienced attending physician and a resident physician with the most up-to-date knowledge in their specialty,” said Ryder. “Our goal was to recruit both interns and residents who are either from Texas or want to practice in Texas, so I love that this program trains ‘hometown’ talent who may then go on to practice in the community.”

To learn more about the GME clinic at Texas Health Forth Worth check out the website or call 817-250-7035.