Dr. Jonathan Santos, a graduate of the Conroe Family Medicine Residency Program, casts a patient’s foot. Fifty percent of the residents remain in the county after completing the program.[/caption]

Although it may be difficult to imagine now, Conroe and the surrounding area once had difficulty recruiting physicians. A lack of training opportunities was identified as the culprit, which led to the establishment in 1979 of the Montgomery County Medical Education Foundation, known today as the Conroe Family Medicine Residency Program.

Based out of Lone Star Family Health Center, the residency program has had various affiliations throughout the years. First, the accredited program was under the umbrella of The University of Texas Medical Branch and later was sponsored by the Conroe Medical Education Foundation.

During the three-year residency program, which is capped at 30 trainees, residents train in family medicine both at the Conroe Regional Medical Center and at Lone Star’s health center clinic off Sawdust Road. The family health center—which opened in 2012—was designed and built as a teaching health center and serves as home to the residency program.

“This model is good about changing with the health care landscape,” program director Dr. Stephen McKernan said. “It was created because we have to decentralize primary care training. In a setting like this, residents are able to go to more rural locations [upon completing the program].”

McKernan said the residents, who are licensed physicians by the second year of the program, also learn how to run and be part of a medical practice.

Every year the residency program receives between 1,200 to 1,400 applicants and conducts about 130 interviews for 10 available residency positions, McKernan said.

“In the midst of this technical training, we also learn how to address the specific challenges of treating uninsured and underinsured patients in our ever-increasingly complex medical system,”

After completing the program, about 50 percent of the resident physician graduates stay in the Montgomery County region and practice, McKernan said, proving a success story to the founders.

“In this community I see doctors who stay here, practice here and retire here,” McKernan said.

Physicians not only provide care to the community; they are a vital part of the economic engine. Each patient care physician in Texas supports a per capita economic output of $1.6 million, and each physician, on average, supports about 14 jobs, according to a physician workforce study funded by North Texas Regional Extension Center.

Resident Carolyn Emerick said the program has prepared her and other residents for addressing needs of the underserved population.

“In the midst of this technical training, we also learn how to address the specific challenges of treating uninsured and underinsured patients in our ever-increasingly complex medical system,” she said.

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