Internal Medicine Residency

five students in white coats sitting around a table in the TTUHSC library smiling

Internal Medicine Residency Program

Applications Open | September 3, 2025
Next Start Date | July 1, 2026

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center provides exceptional training for residents who are dedicated to making a difference and upholding our steadfast values of delivering compassionate patient care, visionary ideas, and integrity as part of our unified team.

Our three-year residency training program is designed to provide residents with increasing responsibility, access to our internationally-known faculty, and immersive experiences in internal medicine clinics. As the field of medicine is vast and wide-ranging, our accomplished subspecialty faculty are available throughout the training process, allowing proficiency in a broad spectrum of procedures. Upon completion, residents will be truly prepared for fellowship training and a career in internal medicine.

Program Highlights

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#1 For Percent Subspecialize in Texas
We place more of our residents into subspecialties than all other IM programs in Texas. We are also ranked 16th nationally.

4.6 - Average Number of Publications
for the Last 3 Graduating Classes. Home to a number of world renowned researchers, our program places a high value on scholarly activity.

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Competitive Salary & Benefits
with a low cost of living. Lubbock is one of the most affordable metropolitan areas in the US, an ideal place for resident physicians to begin their careers and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.

If you want to learn more about how our Residency Education Program Works click here or take a virtual tour here.

Information for Applicants

Application Process and Eligibility Criteria

Thank you for your interest in our Internal Medicine Residency Program. Applications are only accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). We do not accept applications via e-mail.

We strongly encourage applicants to submit their applications by the end of September, as our available interview dates fill quickly.

The following documents are required:

ERAS Common Application Form
Curriculum Vitae
Dean's Letter (MSPE)
A minimum of three (3) Letters of Recommendation
Personal Statement
Photograph
Medical School Transcripts
USMLE and/or COMLEX Transcripts

The following are the minimum criteria for application:

Graduate of an accredited medical school within the past 5 years. Those with post-graduate training will have this taken into account.
Any gaps in training or medical education should have an accompanying explanation.
Must be able to assume all responsibilities of training by July 1.

Please note that due to the volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to any inquiries regarding application status.

The following information is for international applicants:

Our program only accepts J-1 Visa
Must have graduated in the last 7 years
US clinical experience is preferred but not required
Must have ECFMG certificate at interview

TTUHSC does not accept H-1 Visas.

Resident Benefits

Please visit our GME office for detailed salary and benefit information here.

Medical, vision, and dental insurance provided for resident. Family partially covered by institution.
Worker's Compensation Insurance
Professional Liability Insurance
Free Parking
30 Days of Leave (PTO)
Educational stipend of approximately $1,500.00 (combined over three years of training).
Annual ACP membership
Annual In-Training Exam
ACLS Renewal
3 white coats provided
Up to $800 for travel annually for presenting scholarly activity
Educational Leave Days:
- PGY 1 = 5 days
- PGY 2 = 10 days
- PGY 3 = 10 days

Residency Program Leave Policy

Residency Rotations and Scheduling

PGY1
The intern year is designed to provide a comprehensive experience in general internal medicine. PGY1 residents are supervised by upper level residents, the chief residents, and attending faculty. On general internal medicine services, the PGY1 resident has primary responsibility for patients and is expected to actively participate as a teacher of junior and senior medical students assigned to the resident/faculty team. The PGY1 schedule includes 30 working days of leave.

Floor	4 Blocks
MICU	3 Blocks
CICU	1 Block
ER	1 Block
Electives	1 Block
Selectives (Nephrology, ID, Cardiology)	3 Blocks

PGY2
The PGY2 year is designed to provide the resident with increasing responsibility, which includes leading the health care team, supervising the inpatient care of acutely and chronically ill patients, and making decisions regarding a patient's need for hospital admission. It includes general internal medicine inpatient rotations plus subspecialty rotations of the resident's choosing. The PGY2 resident has a primary teaching role for assigned medical students and first-year residents. PGY2 residents have 30 working days of leave.

Floor	2 Blocks
MICU	1 Block
CICU	1 Block
Oncology Consults	1 Block
General Medicine Consults	2 Blocks
VA Clinic	1 Block
Ambulatory Rotation	1 Block
Electives	3 Blocks
Jeopardy	1 Block

PGY3
The PGY3 resident is given maximum house staff responsibility in the care of general internal medicine and subspecialty patients. The year is designed to increase the resident's total patient-management skills. The resident serves as a first-line consultant for the junior house staff and medical students. The resident serves periodically as a general internal medicine consultant for other services in the hospital and supervises the admission of patients to the internal medicine services. The third year resident has major bedside and didactic teaching responsibilities for medical students and assigned junior house staff. The PGY3 schedule includes 30 working days of leave.

Floor	2 Blocks
MICU	1 Block
Neurology	1 Block
VA Clinic	1 Block
General Medicine Ambulatory	1 Block
Geriatrics	1 Block
Hospital Medicine	1 Block
Electives	5 Blocks

Call Schedule

On the General Medicine wards, our teams have a resident and one to two interns. The maximum of admissions to the call team is 10 new patients to the service cap of 14 patients, whichever comes first. Call is every 4th day. No patients are admitted by the post-call team. The "pre-call" team may admit one new patient and the "sister team" (team that is 2 days from long call) may admit two new patients. At 9 p.m. the on-call senior resident goes home and a night float senior resident covers from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. This resident is responsible for assisting with overnight admissions.

In the MICU, our team has one senior resident (day/night) and four to five interns. The senior resident does 2 weeks of MICU days (no overnight call) and then 2 weeks of night float. Call for interns is every fourth or fifth day. The Senior is responsible for overnight admissions to the MICU and supervising the Night float intern.

Annual Resident Retreat: Strengthening Our Team, Renewing Our Mission

One of the best opportunities we offer to our residents is our Resident Retreat!

Group of TTUHSC Internal Medicine Resident's in a lodge looking up smiling

Annually we host an out-of-town Resident Retreat to evaluate the education value of our program, review quality of life issues, emphasize team building, and create specific recommendations for change.

The retreat allows for the unique opportunity to have all the residents recreate and fellowship with each other in one setting. Each year there is a different focus but the overall theme is to continually evaluate the education value of our program, review quality of life issues, emphasize team building, and create specific recommendations for change.

Typically the retreat is held in early February in Ruidoso, New Mexico. All residents, the chairman, and program directors join together in a relaxing location away from the hospital. Friday evening involves a group dinner and then a yearly review of the program. Saturday morning is reserved for the theme topic. Saturday afternoon and Sunday are reserved for residents and their families to enjoy recreational activities (snow ski, hike, fish, shop, rest) in beautiful Ruidoso.

Thank you for your interest in our program.

The mission of the Texas Tech Internal Medicine Residency is to train compassionate and dedicated internists through a balanced approach to academic rigor and clinical diversity within a supportive, collegial environment. We emphasize camaraderie, teamwork, and clinical innovation while preparing residents to enhance the health of Lubbock, West Texas, and Eastern New Mexico's diverse patient populations. We are committed to providing individualized training tailored to each resident's career interests, promoting clinical autonomy alongside structured learning, and prioritizing scholarly research and personal/professional well-being.

Specific aims of our program include:

Providing comprehensive internal medicine exposure to prepare residents for independent practice or subspecialty fellowship, as well as success in the American Board of Internal Medicine certifying exam.
Continuously improving through frequent and thorough program evaluations.
Structuring residency training to support personal growth and well-being.
Modeling professionalism to instill a strong sense of responsibility toward patients, peers, and society among our residents.

We will prepare you to seamlessly transition to the next level of training or employment.

Because the selection of a residency program is a major decision and requires careful consideration, we welcome the opportunity to provide any details about our program that would assist you in your decision-making process. We appreciate your interest in our program and encourage you to visit with us to discuss residency opportunities at TTUHSC.

If you are interested in receiving more information, please email your request to Brandi McKinnon.

J. Drew Payne, DO FACP

Program Director
Associate Professor
TTUHSC Internal Medicine Residency Program

Teaching Sites

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

TTUHSC educates students, provides patient care and conducts biomedical and clinical research. We graduate the most health care professionals in the state of Texas. Nationally recognized for innovative programs, academic achievement, and our cutting-edge research, we are training the next generation of highly qualified health professionals. To date we have trained more than 42,000 health care professionals who are serving patients and driving medical discovery in tangible, life-changing ways – both for the 10 million people in our immediate service area and around the world.

University Medical Center

University Medical Center (UMC) is a 500-bed hospital. It is a public, non- profit facility that serves as the primary teaching hospital for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. UMC also includes a children's hospital
with Level IV NICU, a family-centered birth center, a regional burn center, and the region's only Level 1 Trauma Center. Wile at UMC, TTUHSC Family Medicine residents take care of hospitalized adults & children, work in the
critical care units, and provide family-centered maternity care in labor & delivery.

Residency Clinics

Resident Continuity-of-Care Clinic

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center's residency program provides primary continuity-of-care experience in the ambulatory internal medicine clinics. All residents spend one half-day per week seeing their own cadre of patients. A nurse is assigned to each resident. This resident/nurse team provides for a quality continuity of care experience for the resident's patients and promotes team building and professionalism. This system allows the resident to follow the evolution of disorders typically seen by the internist, to observe the response to outpatient therapy, and to understand the unique comprehensive health care needs of ambulatory patients. Experienced full-time attending faculty supervise the ambulatory training and provide on-site consultation and patient care discussions. There are computers with internet search access and Up To Date®.

Clinic educational conferences are scheduled during clinic twice a month. Core ambulatory topics will be covered with emphasis on reading recent literature, reviewing practice management and reviewing board questions.

VA Outpatient Clinic

Senior residents rotate at the Lubbock Veterans Affairs (VA) Outpatient Clinic. This rotation is one month and provides a valuable outpatient medical experience in a government run managed care system. Residents perform walk-in evaluations of adult patients with a variety of medical diseases with varying complexity and severity. The VA outpatient clinic in Lubbock is a very new facility that offers state of the art diagnostic equipment and electronic medical records. Residents are supervised by full-time VA physician staff.

Ambulatory Care Clinic

Senior residents participate in this one month ambulatory rotation. The rotation is designed to give rotating residents the experience to competently evaluate subspecialty patients under the supervision of a board certified subspecialist. This clinic is scheduled Monday through Friday.

The following clinics are included:

Allergy
Oncology.Hematology
Gastroenterology
Pulmonology
Cardiology
Chart Review
Endocrinology

Urgent Care Clinic

Senior residents participate in this one month outpatient rotation. The rotation is designed to give rotating residents the experience to competently evaluate and manage ambulatory patients with acute medical problems. This clinic is scheduled each afternoon from Monday through Friday. The resident is supervised by an experienced, full-time faculty member. The morning clinics on this rotation provide the resident with unique outpatient experiences to enhance their medical training, give them a broad medical fund of knowledge, and prepare them for the future practice of internal medicine. The following clinics are include:

Preoperative Evaluation Clinic
Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic
Chart review

Board Review - Value packed lectures with emphasis on ITE objectives, board testing techniques and review of multiple choice questions.

House Staff Meeting - A monthly meeting of all TTUHSC residents sponsored by the office of GME. This meeting serves to update house staff on important institutional issues. Elected officers of the house staff serve as liaisons on many institutional committees.

Weekly Report - A case is prepared by a resident in advance of the conference. Emphasis is placed on oral presentation, work-up, and differential diagnosis. The resident delivers a brief, updated aspect of the presentation topic.

Business of Medicine - Emphasis on billing and system based practices of clinical internal medicine.

Patient Safety - Case-based medical conference that emphasizes challenges or adverse outcomes associated with system interactions in medical care.

Journal Club - Residents discuss selected articles. Emphasis is on commentary and critical appraisal of the literature.

Grand Rounds - These are conducted by the Department of Medicine and other institutional faculty as well as visiting professors. Topics include advances in basic and clinical knowledge in many fields on Internal Medicine.

Morbidity and Mortality - A noon conference series where third-year residents present specific cases for presentation under the supervision of a faculty member.

Subspecialty Conference - Each subspecialty division is assigned to a particular month and faculty from that subspecialty give a series of 3 to 4 case-based, interactive conferences.

Procedural Experiences

Internal Medicine Residents will learn the indications, contraindications, complications, limitations, and develop technical proficiency in the following procedures:

ACLS
Arterial blood sampling
Arterial line placement
Arthrocentesis
Bone marrow aspiration
Central line placement

Endotracheal intubation
Lumbar puncture
Paracentesis
Thoracentesis
Venous blood sampling

Optional training can occur with the following procedures:

Pulmonary artery catheterization
Elective cardioversion
Treadmill exercise testing

See what Lubbock has to offer!

Lubbock, home to over 252,500 residents and Texas Tech University’s 36,550 students, blends the energy of a thriving city with the charm of a cozy college town. Known worldwide as the birthplace of rock pioneer Buddy Holly, the city offers world-class arts, museums, entertainment, and a vibrant cultural scene. Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy abundant sunshine, recreational lakes, top-ranked golf courses, and easy access to hiking, fishing, and camping in nearby New Mexico. With a strong economy, low housing costs, excellent schools, and the High Plains wine region nearby, Lubbock is a dynamic hub for culture, education, and adventure.

Explore life in Lubbock and see why it’s a great place to live, work, and play here.

Faculty

Meet our accomplished, ABIM-certified faculty, whose diverse specialties and talents advance education and serve the Lubbock community and beyond here.

Residents

View our current residents and alumni of the Texas Tech Internal Medicine Residency.

To view Scholarly Activity of alumni click here.

Staff

Learn more about the Internal Medicine Education staff here.

Alumni Reflections

One of the best career decisions I made was going to Texas Tech for residency. I had a lot of professional growth in a very supportive setting. The program director is one of the most personable and knowledgeable physicians I’ve ever worked with. He inspires us all to do better and set the standard for quality of care. Program is very family oriented and allows you to plan your rotations around any life events. Overall very diverse, and I made friends from many places around the globe. Patient population was great, and my clinical experience was broad. [...] Everyone is supportive, and I would strongly recommend this program to anyone. Lubbock is a nice city, and you will be welcomed if you decide to go there.

Internal Medicine Residency