Emergency Medicine Residency Program

A message from Jamal Rahimi, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency Program

Thank you for your interest in our Emergency Medicine Program. We are a new ACGME-accredited program in Hidalgo County in the beautiful Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Our program is designed to cultivate the next generation of emergency medicine physicians through a comprehensive and dynamic educational experience within South Texas Health System. South Texas GME Consortium has partnered with Texas A&M University as our academic affiliate to offer an exciting journey to becoming an emergency medicine physician. We hope you will join us in this exciting adventure.

Our faculty is dedicated to cultivating exceptional emergency medicine physicians while fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment. STHS GME Consortium and emergency medicine faculty are committed to empowering our residents to become compassionate, skilled and resilient healthcare professionals who will impact their communities and beyond.

Our Mission is to educate a diverse group of emergency medicine residents to attain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to become master adaptive learners who focus on excellence in the delivery of safe, equitable, holistic, empathic, comprehensive, high-quality, affordable and high-value care to patients of all ages in an underserved community.

As a new emergency medicine program, residents will have the opportunity to partner with the faculty and develop a program they can be proud of years after graduation. With educational and research support from Texas A&M University, residents will also have the opportunity to pursue both clinical and bench research projects, and partner with other Texas A&M learners on collaborative projects.

South Texas Health System is the largest healthcare system in the Rio Grande Valley. We have four acute care hospitals and six freestanding emergency departments, which feed our training facilities with acutely ill and injured patients.

Residents can rotate through South Texas Health System McAllen, South Texas Health System Edinburg, and South Texas Health System Children’s, all of which are modern facilities equipped with advanced medical technology and patient care.

South Texas Health System McAllen (STHS McAllen), our primary training site, is home to a Level I Trauma Center, Comprehensive Stroke and Certified Chest Pain Center, with 28 licensed beds. Residents will spend the majority of their training time at STHS McAllen, which houses the Trauma ICU, Medical ICU, Anesthesia, Radiology, OB/GYN, Orthopedic and IM Admitting rotations. Located just off the main expressway running across the Rio Grande Valley, the facility receives a lot of EMS traffic, providing a high volume of trauma and medical patients. STHS McAllen is also located just nine miles from the international border; our residents will have the opportunity to be ambassadors of healthcare not only to our community but to immigrants from around the world.

South Texas Health System Edinburg (STHS Edinburg), one of the rotation sites, is home to our Community Emergency Medicine experience. STHS Edinburg is a Level IV Trauma Center, Primary Stroke Center and Certified Chest Pain Center, licensed with 20 beds. It’s the gateway to the newest addition to STHS’ facilities. The ED is located on the first floor of a new $104 million patient tower, which has an advanced ICU and medical units. STHS Edinburg is also home to three new hybrid radiology suites, allowing EM residents to work one-on-one with Interventional Radiologists to develop their skills.

South Texas Health System Children’s (STHS Children’s), located on the same campus as STHS Edinburg, is home to the region's first dedicated children’s hospital. The pediatric facility is an 86-bed hospital featuring the region’s largest pediatric emergency department (Peds ED), a Joint Commission-certified asthma program and a Pediatric ICU. Residents will spend several weeks each year at STHS Children’s in a longitudinal format to ensure each resident is exposed to the span of pediatric illness and injuries. Residents will spend one block during PGY-3 year in the Pediatric ICU to hone the management of critical pediatric populations.

Program Highlights:

• With 93,851 ED visits between the three rotation sites and 213,094 including the freestanding EDs, residents will have plenty of learning and patient care experiences.
• Experience at one of the busiest Trauma Centers in the Rio Grande Valley.
• Innovative and diverse curriculum designed to meet the needs of an ever-changing emergency medicine landscape.
• Faculty ready to meet the challenge of being “the new kids on the block” when it comes to EM residencies. Open to new ideas and suggestions from residents to shape the program.
• Helping to create ambassadors of healthcare to immigrants, many of whom have never had the opportunity to receive medical care.
• Partnering with Dr. Haywood Hall, PACE MD residents will also have an opportunity to experience global health from one of the pioneers on the topic.
• Location, Location, Location
  • Located just 75 miles from South Padre Island, residents can visit a top vacation spot in Texas.
  • McAllen International Airport has short flights to some great spots in Mexico that residents can enjoy, like Tulum, Cancun, and Cozumel, just to name a few. These destinations can be a relaxing option for a short getaway or enjoyed on one of the three vacation weeks offered each year.
  • McAllen is also just a few hours drive from San Antonio, Corpus Christi or Houston.

We hope you will take the journey and allow us to mentor and train the next generation of emergency physicians. We want our graduates to be innovators in emergency medicine, and just as you help us shape the Emergency Medicine program at STHS, we want you to carry that experience in your careers and continue to shape emergency medicine for decades.