Partnering to expand pediatric training in Houston

Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine has partnered with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic to enhance the medical education opportunities at the college’s campus in Houston, Texas.

In 2015, 24 Texas A&M medical students began clinical training in Houston. Kelsey-Seybold Clinic offers a unique and enriching experience for students during pediatric rotations, and has been an essential clinical partner in Houston.

The medical degree program begins with two years of basic medical science and pre-clinical training at Texas A&M College of Medicine in Bryan and continues with the third-year rotation and options for fourth-year electives at the Houston campus.

As the nation’s first National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accredited Accountable Care Organization, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic is a leader for coordinated care health care models and focuses on physician-led accountable care to lower total medical costs.

“Kelsey-Seybold is the perfect place to educate Aggies to become caring and compassionate physicians,” said Paul Ogden, M.D., interim senior vice president and chief operating officer, Texas A&M Health Science Center, and interim dean, College of Medicine. “Kelsey-Seybold not only offers our students excellence in clinical training and patient care, but excellence in institutional ethics and health care organization.”

Kelsey-Seybold Clinic was founded in 1949 by Mavis Kelsey. Kelsey graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in 1932, and after returning from practicing medicine at the Mayo Clinic, he started his own clinic in the budding Texas Medical Center. In 1949, he established Kelsey-Seybold Clinic. Today Kelsey-Seybold has 19 locations in the Greater Houston area, of which 15 offer pediatric care by more than 50 pediatric specialists. With a dedication to preventive care and immunizations, students will be exposed to full-service pediatric clinical experiences.

“We are proud and excited to be the home of Texas A&M College of Medicine’s pediatric education in Houston. We know that our clinic provides an excellent learning experience for these students and provides them with a unique learning opportunity,” said Richard Byrd, M.D., F.A.A.P., chief of pediatrics at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, and also the director of the medical student clerkship in pediatrics and clinical assistant professor with Texas A&M College of Medicine.

This partnership is part of larger Houston expansion plans for the Texas A&M Health Science Center, which includes construction of a multidisciplinary research and education building, adjacent to the Albert B. Alkek Building that currently houses the Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology at the Texas Medical Center.