Welcome from the Regional Dean

Leonel Vela, MD, MPH

On behalf of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio faculty, staff and students located at the Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC), I would like to express our gratitude for your interest in the RAHC programs and to welcome you to our website.  The RAHC, which is comprised of a Medical Education Division and a Medical Research Division, is located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and is a geographically separated campus of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. Since the RAHC opened it doors in June 29, 2002 we have had a very successful start to our medical education programs—much more than anyone anticipated. 

During its initial five years of existence, over 500 medical students from San Antonio have completed a portion of their clinical training at the Harlingen RAHC. The RAHC Internal Medicine Residency Program started in 2002 and approximately 90% of its graduates practice in Texas with the majority practicing in the Rio Grande Valley (the Valley). The RAHC has developed a particular strength in its community-based teaching approach which allows for significant interaction between faculty and students.  This has become an attractive quality at the RAHC and surveys show a high level of satisfaction among students that received their clinical education at the RAHC. Students experience a diversity of clinical experiences through various medical settings in the region, including Valley Baptist Medical Center—the RAHC’s primary teaching hospital—Su Clinica Familiar and several other clinics and physician’s offices.

A confluence of factors related to the RAHC geographical location afford students the opportunity to learn in, and to experience, a unique educational setting—these include the opportunity to learn about border medicine and the interplay between the cross-cultural, socioeconomic and environmental determinants of health.

The RAHC has recently added a basic research campus and a clinical research center. Research conducted in these RAHC research facilities will focus on diseases that disproportionately affect the border populations of South Texas—particularly diabetes and certain infectious diseases.

I hope you enjoy learning about the RAHC and that your interest will lead you to explore further the excellent educational opportunities available in this UT Health Science Center San Antonio campus.

Leonel Vela, M.D., MPH
Regional Dean and Professor