Department of Family Medicine & Community Health
The Department of Family Medicine & Community Health (FMCH) at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston was founded as an independent department in 1971, but existed prior to that as a division of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health.
For almost 24 years the department was led by Barbara L. Thompson, MD, who stepped down as Chair in 2021. Since 2021, the department is led by Professor and Sealy Hutchings and Lucile Wright Hutchings Chair in Family Medicine, In 2025 the department changed its name from The Department of Family Medicine to The Department of Family Medicine & Community Health (FMCH) to evolve the department's academic and clinical areas with greater focus on community engagement, population health, and improving health outcomes that matter to communities across Texas. .
Family Medicine faculty, residents, behavioral health specialists and advanced care practitioners provide medical care to Galveston County residents through its , two located on Galveston Island and a clinic in Dickinson, Texas. Our providers also care for our community in our hospital inpatient
service at the state-of-the-art Jennie Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas. Additional services are rendered at the Gulf Health Care Center nursing home and the Galveston County Health District's Coastal Health & Wellness.
At present the Department includes programs in medical student education, residency, faculty development, and research.
The Department’s Medical Student Education Program participates in all four years of the medical curriculum, offering a variety of elective and selective courses and its 6-week, third-year family medicine clerkship. The program also provides examiners for various examinations throughout the curriculum, including the fourth-year Integrative Curriculum Evaluation Exercise (ICEE.)
The Department’s Residency Program is a 12-12-12 program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate
Medical Education (ACGME).
The Research Program fosters clinical and educational research and collaboration with on-campus colleagues as well
as with colleagues at other esteemed institutions. The program also provides research opportunities for students and residents.