Laredo Medical Center Resident Physician Programs Achieve Milestone with First Graduating Class

7/6/2021

A major milestone for the future of healthcare in Laredo was celebrated on Friday, June 18 as the first resident physicians of the Laredo Medical Center Family Medicine and Internal Medicine Residency Programs participated in a commencement ceremony.

The ceremony, which was held at the Laredo Country Club, recognized 16 graduating resident physicians, including seven in the Family Medicine program and nine in the Internal Medicine program.

Jorge Leal, FACHE, CEO of Laredo Medical Center, expressed his enthusiasm and pride for this monumental achievement.

“We are very excited and proud to present the first graduating class from the city’s only Graduate Medical Education programs at Laredo Medical Center. We cannot overemphasize the residents’ sincere desire to improve themselves to better serve and care for their patients. As resident physicians, they not only offered quality and compassionate healthcare, but they provided humanistic care to the community, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sincerely thank our educational and training partners, as well as all those who made this possible, including the residents’ families for trusting us to teach the next generation of physicians.”

In 2018, Laredo Medical Center became the first clinical campus for the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM) and the Texas Institute for Graduate Medical Education and Research. The first cohort of residents in Family and Internal Medicine specialties began their three-year residencies at LMC and its outpatient residency clinic, Gateway Community Health Center.

Residencies are where medical school graduates hone their skills to be independent physicians in a hospital or outpatient office setting. In order to practice, medical school graduates must complete residency training in a specific specialty.

“Residency programs have a direct impact on a community’s number of doctors and citizens’ access to healthcare. As well as learning from the doctors here, the resident physicians have also been providing additional care to the community,” said Leal.

Laredo Medical Center has welcomed subsequent cohorts of resident physicians annually since then, with its fourth cohort of 18 residents set to come aboard on July 1. The new residents will join the current residents for the 2021-2022 year with a total of 48 residents being enrolled in the graduate medical education programs.

Dr. David Garza, founding Family Medicine Program Director of the LMC Residency Program and currently an Assistant Professor at UIWSOM, said that in 2013, administrators at San Antonio's University of the Incarnate Word shared a vision to build what would become the 13th medical school in Texas. Four years later, UIWSOM opened its doors and accepted its first class of osteopathic medical students.

“As only the third medical school south of Austin, one of this school's goals is to increase the number of excellent primary care physicians for the South Texas region. To that end, UIWSOM also established five new residency programs, including both Family Medicine and Internal Medicine in Laredo. It was rewarding to witness the recognition of the 16 members of the (Laredo Medical Center) inaugural class of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine Residents for completing their training. This historic milestone was made possible following years of collaboration between UIW, Laredo Medical Center, Gateway Community Health Center, and dozens of local physicians who volunteer their time to teach these young physicians,” said Dr. Garza.

“Another critical component of this support for medical education in Laredo, though, was the generosity of Mr. Dennis Nixon and the International Bank of Commerce. Following a significant donation that helped build the headquarters for these programs, many other Laredoans followed suit, helping to ensure the success of these programs,” Dr. Garza added. “From these first 16 graduates, Laredo will keep four new physicians, which is very common where communities host medical residencies.”

“Adding yet one more component of medical education, though, is a cohort of seven third-year UIWSOM medical students who complete an entire year of intensive clinical training in Laredo. The third such group of medical students will begin July 1, with the intention of not just providing the opportunity for these students to obtain this experience, but also increasing the likelihood of them eventually returning to the community once they complete their training,” Dr. Garza said.

Graduating from the 2021 Family Medicine residency program are Mohammed S. Ahmed, D.O.; Sabrina S. Chen, D.O.; Cory J. Fernandes, D.O.; Greg Maler, D.O.; Rachael D. Murphy, D.O.; Christopher B. Tchou, D.O.; and Jiang Wang, D.O. The Program Director is Melissa Martin, M.D.

Graduating from the 2021 Internal Medicine residency program are Armando Cardenas, MD; Joseph W. Caravella, D.O.; Vivian Ekechukwu, D.O.; Tiffany Prachachalerm, D.O.; Grzegorz S. Puchala, D.O.; Eric G. Spicuzza, D.O.; Nathaniel O. Staley, D.O.; John R. Williams, D.O.; and Syed M. Zaidi, D.O. The Program Director is Hector Santos, M.D.

Some of the program’s residents and faculty were also recognized with special awards during the commencement ceremony and dinner, which was hosted by Laredo Medical Center, Gateway Community Health Center, and the University of the Incarnate Word. The awards were given as follows: Family Medicine Resident Leadership Award- Rachael Murphy, D.O., and Christopher Tchou, D.O.;

Internal Medicine Resident Leadership Award- Armando Cardenas, M.D., and Syed Zaidi, D.O.;

Teacher of the Year for Family Medicine- Enrique Garcia, M.D.; and Teacher of the Year for Internal Medicine- Mery Cortes-Bergoderi, M.D.

For more information about LMC’s residencies, visit www.tigmer.com/lmc-main or call (956) 796-3223.

The founding cohort of Resident Physicians from the Family Medicine Residency Program is pictured with leaders from Laredo Medical Center, University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine and Gateway Community Health Center.

The founding cohort of Resident Physicians from the Internal Medicine Residency Program is pictured with leaders from Laredo Medical Center, University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine and Gateway Community Health Center.

The first graduating cohort of 16 Resident Physicians from the Laredo Medical Center Family Medicine and Internal Medicine Residency Programs participated in Commencement Exercises on June 18.

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