Dr. Igoa Headshot
DHR Health

Psychiatry Residency Program

Welcome Statement

Greetings from the Heart of the Rio Grande Valley!

It is with tremendous excitement and pride that I welcome you to explore our pioneering Psychiatry residency program at DHR Health. As we prepare to inaugurate our state-of-the-art 192-bed hospital facility, we are poised to transform psychiatric education and patient care along the Mexico-US border—a region extraordinarily rich in cultural diversity and profound in both clinical need and opportunity for meaningful impact.

A Unique Training Environment

Our program offers a distinctive training experience within a physician-owned healthcare system that exemplifies comprehensive, integrated care. You will train alongside distinguished faculty board-certified across the full spectrum of psychiatric specialties: General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Geriatric Psychiatry. This breadth of subspecialty expertise, rare within a single institution, ensures comprehensive mentorship across all domains of psychiatric practice.

The DHR Health system provides an unparalleled clinical environment, encompassing our Women's Hospital, Physical Rehabilitation services, Medical-Surgical facilities, Emergency Department, and multitude of specialty services. This integrated model allows our residents to develop exceptional skills in collaborative care and consultation psychiatry, understanding the intricate relationship between mental and physical health. You will collaborate with obstetricians managing perinatal mood disorders, work alongside rehabilitation teams addressing psychological trauma, and provide emergency psychiatric assessments—exposure that produces psychiatrists uniquely prepared to practice in any setting.

A Transformative Patient Population

The Rio Grande Valley represents one of the most traditionally underserved communities in the United States, yet it is experiencing remarkable growth and transformation. Our residents have the privilege of providing culturally-informed, linguistically-appropriate psychiatric care to a predominantly bilingual and bicultural population. You will conduct assessments and psychotherapy in Spanish, navigate complex cultural contexts of symptom expression, and address social determinants of mental health in profound and tangible ways.

This experience cultivates clinical skills and cultural competencies increasingly essential in our diverse nation. Whether you ultimately practice in major metropolitan areas or underserved communities, the sophistication you develop working with our border population will serve you and your patients extraordinarily well. Moreover, you will have the profound satisfaction of making a tangible difference in a community with desperate mental health needs—where your work truly matters.

Life in the Rio Grande Valley

The border region offers a distinctive tapestry of experiences where Texas hospitality meets Mexican warmth, where traditional values embrace modern innovation, and where our residents discover a deeply rewarding lifestyle. Our community provides family-friendly living with excellent schools, safe neighborhoods, and a cost of living that allows young physicians to purchase homes, eliminate debt, and build financial security impossible in major metropolitan areas.

The geography offers significant advantages: proximity to South Padre Island beaches, easy access to Mexico, and weekend trips to San Antonio, Austin, or Houston. The warm climate supports year-round outdoor activities, and the tight-knit medical community fosters collegiality and lifelong professional relationships. Many residents discover the Valley becomes home—choosing to establish practices and raise families here after training.

Our Educational Philosophy

Our educational approach balances rigorous clinical training with attention to resident wellness and professional development. We are committed to evidence-based psychiatric practice informed by the latest research while honoring the fundamental importance of the therapeutic relationship and the art of healing. You will receive comprehensive training in multiple psychotherapy modalities, develop sophisticated psychopharmacological skills, and learn to integrate medication management with psychotherapy effectively.

Our faculty are deeply committed to teaching and mentorship, maintaining reasonable clinical volumes that allow for thoughtful supervision and development of clinical reasoning. We encourage scholarly activity, quality improvement projects, and community engagement. We support residents in exploring career interests through tailored elective experiences and developing teaching skills through medical student education.

We recognize that residency, while fulfilling, can be demanding. We are committed to resident wellness, providing robust support systems, reasonable work hours complying with ACGME requirements, and a culture valuing self-care and work-life balance. We believe well-supported residents become better physicians and that modeling appropriate self-care is essential to training psychiatrists who sustain long, fulfilling careers.

An Invitation to Build Something Extraordinary

As a new program, we offer unique advantages: the opportunity to shape program culture, the excitement of building something meaningful, close mentorship with smaller cohorts, and the pride of being founding members of a program destined to make lasting contributions. Our residents bring fresh perspectives and passionate idealism that reinvigorate our faculty and remind us why we devoted our lives to healing the human spirit. In turn, we provide mentorship honoring both the science and art of psychiatry, respecting your individual career goals, and preparing you to excel in whatever path you choose.

Our mission is clear: to train exceptional, compassionate, culturally-competent psychiatrists prepared to address 21st-century mental health challenges with clinical excellence, ethical integrity, and profound humanity. We seek residents who are not only academically accomplished but who understand that psychiatry is ultimately about human connection, instilling hope, and the privilege of accompanying people through darkness toward healing.

We value diverse perspectives and backgrounds, fostering an inclusive learning environment where all trainees feel respected and empowered. We believe diversity strengthens our education, enhances our ability to serve our patient population, and reflects the values of equity that should characterize modern medicine.

Welcome to DHR Health Psychiatry

I invite you to discover how our innovative program, exceptional faculty, comprehensive clinical experiences, unique border population, and deeply meaningful mission can support your journey toward becoming the psychiatrist you envision—one combining clinical expertise with cultural humility, scientific knowledge with compassionate presence, and professional excellence with personal integrity.

As you explore residency programs, consider not only clinical training but also the kind of physician you want to become and the life you want to live during these formative years. Consider where you will feel supported, challenged, and inspired. Consider where your work will make a meaningful difference. Consider where you might discover not just a training program but a professional home.

We look forward to meeting you, learning about your aspirations, sharing our vision, and exploring together how you might contribute to and benefit from this exciting chapter in psychiatric education along the border. Please contact us with questions, schedule a visit to experience our community, and engage with our faculty to gain an authentic sense of who we are.

The future of psychiatry is being written by dedicated physicians who choose to serve, to heal, and to make a difference. We hope that future includes you as part of the DHR Health Psychiatry family.

With warm regards and great anticipation,

Jose E Igoa MD
Life time Distinguished Fellow APA
FRCP ©,FRC Psych

Program Director, Psychiatry Residency Training Program 
DHR Health Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Mission and Program Aims

The fundamental goal of our program is to train competent, qualified, caring and sensitive physicians who are mindful of the significance of their role in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, the alleviation of suffering, the prevention of ill-health and the empathetic support of those directly or indirectly afflicted with psychiatric illness. Our four-year educational program is geared toward a preparation in psychiatry and board certification. Our residents should be competent to practice in both in- and outpatient settings as well as be able to pursue fellowship training if desired. We are dedicated to training physicians who will effectively work in the current and future health care systems. Our residents enjoy training at a state-of-the-art community-based program, DHR Health GME Psychiatry Residency Program, along with its participating site, Hope Family Health Center. The DHR Health GME is an ACGME-accredited sponsoring institution affiliated with the University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine (UH COM) in Houston, Texas. We endorse a team approach to patient care, while recognizing that residents must have opportunities for individual critical decision-making and patient responsibility as defined by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Our program, as all others, follows the goals and objectives of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, where the curriculum is based around the six core competencies. • Patient Care • Medical Knowledge • Professionalism • Interpersonal and Communication Skills • Practice-based Learning and Improvement • System –based Practice. Our competency-based curriculum and its design allow for an individualized educational experience that corresponds to the career objectives of each resident. We are committed to a strong resident education and to serving our community and the larger Rio Grande Valley population in providing acute and chronic disease health management, preventive care and a longitudinal relationship between our residents and their patient population. Graduates of our program fulfill the requirements of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. The residency program in Psychiatry includes participation in patient care, teaching rounds, organized clinical discussions, didactic conferences, grand rounds, journal club, among others. UH COM provides an on-line medical library as well other academic teaching resources available, which are accessed by the faculty and residents from their home, and there are UH COM medical libraries online and at both participating sites that are accessible by the residents. Residents encounter patients with a variety of psychiatric disorders and conditions representative of all major psychiatric disorders in the current standard diagnostic statistical manual. Clinic patients as well as those admitted to the behavioral hospital include a wide demographic and ethnic mix from the greater RGV region as well as Mexico. There are also a wide variety of socioeconomic situations. This mix provides the residents with a stimulating and enriched training experience with broad diagnostic and challenging opportunities. We believe in training leaders in Psychiatry. Scholarship and discovery are essential components of academic medical leadership, and this is reflected in the curriculum as longitudinal research and QI sessions during the clinic weeks as well as during formal didactic lectures dedicated to scholarly activity.

Program Aims

  • To produce competent, independent practicing psychiatrists who have the ability to lead interdisciplinary teams in all clinical settings
  • To produce psychiatrists that are competent in medication management and multiple types of psychotherapy
  • To prepare residents to be competitive applicants for fellowship and have the opportunity to improve the profession and their community through scholarship, education, advocacy and leadership
  • To train residents to have a basic understanding of quality improvement and patient safety
  • To produce residents with expertise in treating the variety of patient populations in our community with a particular understanding for the underserved
  • To develop socially well-adjusted residents through a focus on physician well-being so that as emotionally healthy physicians they will be more resilient and better able to deliver high quality care Our overall goal is to train thoughtful, compassionate, well-prepared physicians who are ready to make a difference.

Application and Interview Process

The Psychiatry Residency Program at DHR Health (4004800006) accepts applications through the internet-based ERAS program. The same application process applies to all Residency Programs. 

Documentation submitted through ERAS must include:

  • Completed Application Form
  • Recent Photograph
  • CV and Personal Statement
  • Dean's Letter
  • Transcript
  • Three Letters of Recommendation
  • Results of USMLE/COMLEX examinations, Steps 1 and 2

Criteria for all medical school graduates: 

  • Passing of USMLE/COMLEX examinations on the first attempt.
  • Graduation from medical school within the last 5 years.
  • Graduates of medical schools outside of the U.S. and Canada must hold a current valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).  
  • Meet requirements for J-1 Visa sponsorship (if applicable)

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Contact Us

Nicole Castaneda

Program Coordinator
1000 E. Dove Ave. Ste 201

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Faculty

Our Curriculum

Learn more regarding our Psychiatry Residency Program below.

Benefits and Stipend

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

DHR Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion. We know that diverse and inclusive teams have a positive impact, by generating varied perspectives and in turn better ideas to solve complex problems. We are committed to building a team with a variety of backgrounds, skills and views, by ensuring fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all residents, faculty, and staff. We strive to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups, due to race, ethnicity, language, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, socioeconomic status, physical or mental disability, and others.

We appreciate the unique abilities and perspectives of our diverse workforce and community. By creating an environment where faculty, physicians, residents, fellows, and staff can be their true selves at work without fear of judgment, we aim to foster creativity, raise productivity, and improve organizational performance. We believe that all our faculty, physicians, residents/fellows, and staff play the critical role in the overall success of the organization and the vision we have for our community. We create a sense of belonging at the workplace, where employees are appreciated for their unique contributions, recognized for their accomplishments, supported in their career goals, and have a sense of connection to how they are positively impacting their community.

Through community partnerships, we generate transformation within our institution as a means of advocating for better care for our patients, creating a more diverse physician workforce, and serving our community. We strive to promote social justice by advocating for equitable health care, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, social status, or ability to pay. We are committed to an organizational culture that will connect our residents and fellows to the organization; encourage collaboration, flexibility and fairness; and leverage diversity throughout the organization, so that all residents and fellows will be able to participate and contribute to their full potential.

DHR Health recruits resident/fellow applicants underrepresented in medicine (UIM) for advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The DHR Health GME Diversity Committee is included in all planning phases of faculty and resident/fellow recruitment, selection, and retention and includes hospital leaders, GME representatives, and residents/fellows.

Resident Life

Our Commitment to Wellness

  • Counseling services provided to residents and faculty are available Monday-Friday from 8am - 8pm and on weekends from 9am - 6pm. Call 956-362-2732 to set up an appointment.
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Our Community

The Rio Grande Valley is a region in deep South Texas, beautifully rich in culture.

Housing Options