Internal Medicine Residency Training Sites

Ben Taub is Houston’s county hospital and a primary teaching facility for Baylor. As part of Harris Health System’s safety-net group of hospitals and clinics, the health professionals and staff at Ben Taub Hospital care for a diverse, underserved population. Our residents rotate on general medicine wards, subspecialty consult services, neurology, ED, and ICU teams at Ben Taub, and also do outpatient clinics at affiliated ambulatory sites (such as Smith Clinic, home to most of our residents’ continuity clinics, and Thomas Street, a freestanding HIV/AIDS clinic).

Patient Demographics at Ben Taub Hospital

• American Indian: 0.2 percent
• Other: 2.1 percent
• Asian: 4.8 percent
• Caucasian: 8.3 percent
• Black/African: 24.9 percent
• Hispanic / Latino: 59.6 percent

Patient Payor Mix

• Uninsured: 60.2 percent
• Medicaid and CHIP: 20.2 percent
• Medicare: 9.5 percent
• Commercial and other funding: 10.1 percent

Houston’s VA hospital has been designated as one of the most comprehensive in the entire VA system and one of the largest federal facilities in terms of physical size. It serves veterans from Houston and dozens of other surrounding counties. As a quaternary referral center for veterans, the Houston VA provides all types of medical services, from primary care to subspecialty medicine, liver and kidney transplantation to advanced therapies for cancer. It has an expanding advanced heart failure program that includes care for patients with LVADs and cardiac transplants. The first heart transplant at the Houston VA was done in January 2023. At the VA, our residents rotate on general medicine wards, subspecialty consults, neurology and ICU teams, as well as general medicine and specialty outpatient clinics.

Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center is a joint academic facility-private hospital between Baylor College of Medicine and CommonSpirit Health and is part of the St. Luke’s Health System. In 2023, the hospital ranked nationally in several adult specialties including cardiology and cardiac surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, urology, and geriatrics. At BSLMC, our residents help staff subspecialty consultation teams, ICU services, and one hospital medicine team. Over the next several years, clinical care at BSLMC will transition from the current facility to a brand-new hospital on the Baylor McNair campus (current home of the residency education, Department of Medicine offices, and some residents’ continuity clinic).

MD Anderson Cancer Center is the U.S. News & World Report’s number one cancer hospital in the country. Our program has been affiliated with MDACC since 2015, with our residents rotating on an inpatient wards team, subspecialty consults, and through many unique clinics, including Suspicion of Cancer, Cancer Prevention, internal medicine subspecialties, and dermatology. Many residents also develop research projects and mentorship relationships with faculty there.

Smith Clinic is an internal medicine primary care clinic in Harris Health system. There, residents and faculty treat a diverse and underserved population. Residents are often able to arrange post-hospitalization follow-up with patients whom they treated at Ben Taub – a unique opportunity for continuity of care.

VA Primary Care Clinic is located within the VA hospital. Residents have their own patient panel and work directly with an attending preceptor. By using VA resources, residents learn how to provide comprehensive care that addresses veterans' medical, mental health, and social needs.

McNair Clinic is the Baylor faculty group practice primary care clinic. Residents care for their patients under the guidance of faculty in Baylor general internal medicine section. Located at the Baylor McNair campus, this clinic gives residents experience working with a predominantly privately insured population.