Two Texas Health graduate medical education (GME) programs recently received Continued Accreditation status, solidifying Texas Health’s efforts to build a North Texas physician workforce to meet health industry demands.

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth Internal Medicine Residency Program and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford Internal Medicine Residency Program with rotations at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton are fully approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

These residency programs now join Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth General Surgery Residency Program in reaching this status.

“Each residency has reached an important milestone in the establishment of Texas Health’s graduate medical education,” said Shelly Monks, chief academic officer for Texas Health. “Achieving Continued Accreditation indicates that the ACGME has confidence that our residents are receiving high-quality training.” 

ACGME accreditation is an ongoing process, as is the development and implementation of curricula to ensure residents are graduating with the necessary competencies in a consistently evolving field of medicine, Monks said.

ACGME-accredited residencies open with the status of Initial Accreditation. Texas Health Fort Worth’s general surgery residency was awarded Initial Accreditation in August 2020. It received Continued Accreditation last September.

The internal medicine residencies at Texas Health Fort Worth and Texas Health HEB received Initial Accreditation in September 2021 and had operated under that status until receiving Continued Accreditation.

In recent years, Texas Health has grown its graduate medical education (GME) presence in North Texas. Its first program started in 1977 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas with an internal medicine residency. That program has been on Continued Accreditation since the 1980s.

Now, residents are training at Texas Health Dallas, Texas Health Fort Worth and Texas Health HEB with clinical rotations at Texas Health Denton. Last year, the ACGME granted initial accreditation for an internal medicine residency at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano.

Texas Health Plano’s first class of internal medicine residents will begin the three-year training program this July.

Last year, seven physicians graduated from Texas Health GME programs, six from the Texas Health Dallas internal medicine program, and the first in general surgery.

“Texas Health is investing in the future of North Texas. Across the country, communities and delivery organizations are grappling with projected physician shortages,” said Andrew Masica, M.D., chief medical officer for Texas Health. “The primary goal of our GME platform is to develop well-trained, compassionate physicians who will serve patients and their families in the region for years to come.”

A May 2022 report by Texas Health and Human Services states there will not be enough physicians to meet future demands, according to projections based on medical education enrollment data. Last year, internal medicine was listed third among the 10 most in-demand physician specialties in 2023, according to a news report in Becker’s Hospital Review.