Why some medical residents are picking RGV over larger markets

There’s no place like home.

South Texas Health System medical residents and a physician spoke this week about why home and heart helped them make the decision to stay in the Rio Grande Valley after their residencies, helping offset an ongoing shortage of healthcare professionals in the region.

While it’s an issue that faces the country both before and since the COVID-19 pandemic, when medical staffs throughout the nation were overwhelmed to the brink of their resources and capabilities, the need in the Valley can be far greater as a location that has historically suffered from illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.

Meet Bianca Nuñez, 33, of Pharr, who although has considered working in other markets, found that nowhere had the heart of the Valley.

Nuñez explained that while she had already gone to interviews with other programs in cities such as San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Laredo and Chicago, she landed at STHS in McAllen.

STHS calls it the GME (graduate medical education) Consortium’s Family Medicine Residency Program, and here’s why it quickly became her top choice.

“I knew if I wanted to be the best physician I could be, I had to learn from the best,” Nuñez said with pride in her voice. “During my interview I was just so inspired by Dr. Pareja, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Contreras and Dr. Lustenberger and I knew this (STHS) is where I wanted to train.”

Nuñez, who started the program about a month ago, explained that she is excited to continue her residency over the course of three years, the length of the program.

“It’s been amazing. It’s been such an amazing experience,” Nuñez said. “I find myself getting the best training already in my first month. I would recommend this program to anybody … I’m hoping that … we can show other people from the Valley that it’s OK to come back.

“… We have everything to grow here and to learn here.”

For Nuñez, the Valley is entitled to the same quality and access to health care as larger cities and markets, and she believes its recent growth in the medical field is evidence that others are beginning to believe the same.

This is how community members in need of greater medical support can be better cared for, and in greater quantities, more effectively, she added.

“I always knew I wanted to practice here for my community — this is just where I wanted to learn, where I wanted to grow; this is where I want to, you know, someday raise my own family,” Nuñez said. “I think the reason I wanted to come back is because I’m from here and I know what a unique place the Rio Grande Valley is and it’s honestly one of the best places to live.”

Nuñez hopes to continue working for STHS as a family medicine physician after completing her residency, with the goal of eventually opening her own practice in the Valley.

Dr. Wagner Vaz Guimaraes, a hospitalist at STHS McAllen, made the same decision as Nuñez did and has never looked back.

Although Vaz Guimaraes, 47, is a native of Brazil and explained that he chose to continue working in the Valley after completing his residency at STHS McAllen due to his love for the culture, people and its proximity to the beach.

He was a resident from 2017-2020 and is now also helping the facility train new physicians in the clinical teaching department, where he assists with patient rounds.

Vaz Guimaraes said that teaching the residents is a full circle moment and hopes to contribute as much effort and education as the program did for him.

“It’s grateful but also a challenge at the same time,” Vaz Guimaraes added, noting he feels he has a responsibility to provide the same or greater education opportunities. “It’s a good experience to teach them and take time to give back everything that was done for me.”

The residency program operated under a different name until 2022 — the McAllen Family Residency McAllen before becoming part of STHS’s consortium, which combines family medicine and internal medicine.

Vaz Guimaraes wasn’t there for the switchover, but he’s sharing advice for residents now based on his knowledge and expertise.

“Be persistent all the time,” Vaz Guimaraes said, adding that residents should try to stay in a place they love and make their contribution there.

He gets excited whenever his peers and former teachers learn that he stayed and became a physician at the hospital he studied in.

“It feels great that people also can see how you have been moving forward from first year residence to working with the hospital,” Vaz Guimaraes said happily.

Another reason he stayed in the area is because of the supportive and friendly atmosphere at STHS McAllen.

“It’s very great to see everybody still working there, it’s a great hospital to work (in), the environment is good,” Vaz Guimaraes said.

Katy Garcia, 32, of McAllen, concurred.

Currently a medical resident, Garcia explained that working at STHS McAllen isn’t what she thought it would be.

She explained that she was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no division between the departments at the hospital.

“I feel like I’m appreciated,” Garcia said, adding that she’s treated like an equal.

Having staff members who make themselves available for questions and take the time to teach residents helps keep a positive moral for Garcia.

“Here we are treated with a lot of kindness and respect that unfortunately is rare in medicine as we train in residency,” Garcia said.

Hearing from her friends who are doing residencies in other areas across the country makes her appreciate STHS even more.

She explained that having a healthy work environment allows her to focus on her work without added stress from co-workers.

After completing her residency, Garcia hopes to specialize in sports medicine or musculoskeletal health.

“One of the big pros for me is that I feel like I am creating my own,” Garcia said. “I may leave for a little bit to train more, if that’s something that we don’t have here yet.”

She hopes to bring back any knowledge she learns elsewhere to continue to help health care grow in the Valley.

“Because I’m from here I feel like I connect with patients in a way that is unique,” Garcia said, adding that the culture and people is one of the reasons she wants to continue to practice medicine in the Valley.

There’s another connection Garcia has with the hospital. Let’s just say she began her journey there.

“It’s crazy because I was born here (STHS McAllen) and then when I was in high school I was a junior volunteer all four years and then didn’t go back until day one of work,” Garcia said.

Working for a hospital that has been a part of her life since childhood has been fulfilling for her.

“I feel like the administration did a really great job as far as choosing folks with really good hearts, like who really care, like who really want to help,” Garcia said. “I honestly would say that it is the happiest I’ve been since I began my journey in medicine.”