General Medicine

The Division of General Medicine is a diversified team of clinically oriented physicians from varied backgrounds dedicated to excellence in education, comprehensive patient care, clinical research and professional growth.

We are actively involved in inpatient and outpatient teaching of medical students and residents. Our faculty serve as ward attendings on the Internal Medicine teaching services at Memorial Hermann Hospital-TMC and the Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital. We also serve at many ambulatory locations, including the UT General Medicine Center at the UT Professional Building across from the Medical School, the UT West Loop Clinic, the Lyndon B. Johnson Outpatient Clinics and the Thomas Street AIDS Clinic with the Harris County Hospital District. Our faculty also participate in many capacities in Medical Student education, serving as course directors for the Internal Medicine rotation, the ambulatory experience in the fourth year, and the Ethics and Professionalism Course. We actively participate in Problem Based Learning, the Physical Diagnosis Course and lecture in several basic science courses. We have received numerous teaching awards over the years.

We are one of the most active clinical divisions in the school. In addition to patient care at the above locations we also perform internal medicine consultations at the Harris County Psychiatric Center. We operate specialty clinics for pre-operative assessment, weight management and HIV care. Our faculty are board certified and have received recognition as Best Doctors and Top Doctors in the area.

Current research efforts include the Medical School's Center of Excellence for Patient Safety Research and Practice, a $7 million program project grant funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This Center is directed by Dr. Eric Thomas, who received the 2007 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Research. Research in ethics and informed decision making is conducted by Drs. Evelyn Chan and Eugene Boisaubin. Dr. Kevin Hwang has active research in the effect of diet and exercise on obesity. Drs. Phil Johnson, Robin Hardwicke, and Gus Krucke are involved in research on treatment options in HIV. Dr. Elmer Bernstam is involved in biomedical informatics focusing on information retrieval, consumer informatics and decision support.

The division is the home of the Walter M. Kirkendall Endowed Lectureship given each year to remember the birthday of the first chairman of Internal Medicine at UT Houston. The Ragan Ryan Summer Research Stipend funds two college or medical students to work in research activities during the summer. Dr. Eric Thomas holds the Griff T. Ross Professorship in Humanities and Technology in Health Care.