Professor, Internal Medicine-General Medicine

Position Overview

The Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch seeks a Division Chief of General Internal Medicine to lead a dynamic, expansionist role overseeing both ambulatory primary care and inpatient hospital medicine across UTMB's growing multi-campus health system.

This is a strategic growth position focused on deploying high-quality academic hospital medicine services across all UTMB campuses, developing comprehensive perioperative medicine programs (both inpatient and outpatient), and driving measurable improvements in access metrics and inpatient quality including length of stay and complication rates.

This position reports to Dr. Salim Hayek, Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.

Institutional Context

• A $3.5 billion academic health center established in 1891 as Texas's first medical school, comprising Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions, Public and Population Health, and a Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
• Ranked 52nd nationally in NIH funding among medical schools and stands in the top 2 percent of institutions receiving NIH support.
• Operates four hospital campuses (Galveston, Clear Lake, League City, Angleton-Danbury) with over 1,000 beds and more than 90 clinics serving a population exceeding 1.8 million across Southeast Texas.
• Serves as the Level I Trauma Center for a nine-county region.
• Strengths include quaternary care capabilities, comprehensive burn care through partnership with Shriners Hospital for Children, transplant services, and specialty medical care for a substantial portion of Texas's incarcerated population through the TDCJ Hospital partnership.
• Houses the Galveston National Laboratory, one of two BSL-4 biocontainment facilities on a U.S. university campus, and the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development.
• Research strengths include nationally recognized programs in microbiology and immunology, infectious diseases, anesthesiology critical care, and translational sciences.
• Recently established the Moody Brain Health Institute with a $25 million philanthropic commitment.
• A member of the Houston-based Texas Medical Center and benefits from philanthropic support exceeding $50 million annually, including substantial backing from the Sealy & Smith Foundation.

Department Overview

• The Department of Internal Medicine is the largest department within UTMB’s John Sealy School of Medicine, encompassing multiple divisions including Allergy and Immunology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology & Hepatology, General Medicine, Geriatrics, Infectious Disease, Medical Oncology and Hematology, Nephrology, Palliative Care, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, and Rheumatology.
• The department operates a categorical Internal Medicine residency program with approximately 32 positions per cycle, as well as a distinctive combined Aerospace/Internal Medicine residency in partnership with NASA— the only program of its kind in the United States.
• Under the leadership of Dr. Salim Hayek, the Department of Internal Medicine fosters a culture of excellence grounded in six core principles: radical transparency, recognition of exceptional contributions, shared accountability for elevating care, support for practicing at the top of one’s scope, investment in academic success, and collaboration across all divisions.
• Faculty thrive in a data-driven, innovative environment that integrates precision medicine, research advancement, and clinical excellence.
• The Department is committed to transparency, measurable performance, and providing the mentorship, resources, and infrastructure necessary for each faculty member to build and sustain a successful academic career.

Division Strengths and Resources

• The Division of General Internal Medicine serves as the Academic General Medicine practice for the UTMB Health System, with faculty providing comprehensive adult primary care, inpatient hospital medicine, surgical co-management, and medical education across the institution.
• The division has established strong clinical programs with significant growth opportunities:
• Academic Hospitalist Program: Faculty hospitalists provide attending-level care on teaching services with Internal Medicine residents and medical students across UTMB's hospital campuses. The hospitalist service operates on a two-week block system aligned with resident rotations, ensuring continuity of care and robust educational experiences. Faculty incorporate point-of-care ultrasound training and evidence-based medicine into daily teaching rounds. The program is positioned for strategic expansion across all UTMB campuses to meet growing clinical demand and enhance academic presence throughout the health system.
• Surgical Co-Management and Perioperative Medicine Services: The division provides medical co-management for surgical patients across multiple services, optimizing perioperative care and reducing complications. This represents a strategic growth area with opportunities to develop comprehensive perioperative medicine programs encompassing preoperative risk assessment clinics, inpatient co-management services, and postoperative transitional care. Expansion of these services will support UTMB's surgical programs and trauma center operations while advancing quality outcomes and length of stay metrics.
• Ambulatory Primary Care Clinics: The division operates academic primary care clinics across UTMB's multi-campus system, including the Primary Care Pavilion in Galveston and sites in League City and Clear Lake. Faculty provide comprehensive adult primary care with emphasis on chronic disease management, preventive medicine, and patient-centered care. These clinics serve as core teaching sites for medical students and residents while addressing access needs across Southeast Texas.
• Resident Education and Supervision: Division faculty serve as core educators for UTMB's categorical Internal Medicine residency program, providing direct clinical supervision on inpatient wards, ambulatory continuity clinics, and consultative services. Faculty-led teaching conferences, simulation sessions, and clinical skills workshops for residents and medical students.
• Quality Improvement and Outcomes Research: The division engages in quality improvement initiatives focused on reducing length of stay, minimizing complications, optimizing care transitions, and enhancing patient outcomes. Faculty participate in institutional efforts to advance patient safety, value-based care, and clinical process improvement through data-driven strategies and evidence-based interventions.

Primary Responsibilities

• Clinical Leadership:
• Lead strategic expansion of academic hospital medicine services across all UTMB campuses (Galveston, Clear Lake, League City, Angleton-Danbury), ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality inpatient care and robust educational experiences for residents and students at each site.
• Develop comprehensive perioperative medicine services including preoperative risk assessment clinics, inpatient surgical co-management programs, and postoperative care coordination, working closely with surgical departments, anesthesiology, and hospital leadership to optimize surgical outcomes and patient flow.
• Drive measurable improvements in inpatient quality metrics including length of stay, complication rates, readmission rates, and patient experience scores through implementation of evidence-based care pathways, care coordination initiatives, and multidisciplinary team approaches.
• Improve access metrics for both ambulatory and inpatient services, developing strategies to enhance patient access to primary care, expedite hospital admissions, and optimize throughput while maintaining teaching mission and quality standards.
• Recruit, mentor, and retain clinical faculty to support ambitious service line growth, ensure sustainable hospitalist and surgical co-management coverage across multiple campuses, and build a high-performing team aligned with division strategic priorities.
• Maintain an active clinical practice in general internal medicine, either in the ambulatory or hospitalist setting, appropriate to academic rank and administrative responsibilities.
• Education Leadership:
• Oversee division contributions to the ACGME-accredited Internal Medicine residency program, ensuring high-quality clinical teaching experiences on inpatient and ambulatory rotations across all UTMB campuses as services expand.
• Direct medical student education in internal medicine, coordinating clerkship experiences, clinical preceptorships, and mentorship programs for students pursuing careers in primary care, hospital medicine, or perioperative medicine.
• Foster faculty development in clinical teaching, provide mentorship for junior faculty pursuing academic promotion, and support educational scholarship and curricular innovation in hospital medicine and perioperative care.
• Research and Scholarship:
• Develop the division's research and scholarly activity portfolio with emphasis on health services research, perioperative outcomes, hospital medicine quality improvement, and care delivery innovation, identifying collaborative opportunities and pursuing extramural funding.
• Leverage UTMB's research infrastructure and data analytics capabilities to advance investigation in areas such as perioperative risk stratification, length of stay reduction strategies, complication prevention, care transitions, and population health management.
• Support quality improvement initiatives, clinical outcomes research, and scholarly activity among faculty, residents, and students, fostering a culture of continuous learning, data-driven decision making, and evidence-based practice.
• Administrative and Strategic Responsibilities:
• Manage division budget and business plan for growth, optimize resource allocation across expanding clinical sites, and work with departmental leadership on revenue cycle performance, clinical productivity expectations, and payer contracting to support sustainable expansion.
• Participate in departmental strategic planning, faculty recruitment, and institutional committees as assigned, representing the division's interests in hospital operations, quality improvement, and system-wide clinical service development.
• Collaborate with hospital leadership, nursing, case management, surgery departments, anesthesiology, and allied health professionals to ensure coordinated, high-quality care delivery and effective implementation of perioperative medicine programs.
• Foster relationships with regional referral networks, community physicians, and healthcare systems to enhance UTMB's role as the academic medical center for Southeast Texas and support population health initiatives.