Faculty & Staff
Program Leadership
- Chelsea Chang, MD
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Interim Chair of Internal Medicine
Dr. Chelsea Hook Chang is a native of the Rio Grande Valley, having attended Oratory, McAllen Memorial and IB, and is returning after thirteen years. She completed medical school at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in 2012. She completed Internal Medicine Residency in 2015 and was awarded Intern of the Year at Scott & White in Temple Texas where she trained. She has been board certified since 2015 and immediately began her primary care practice and teaching roles. She was clinical assistant professor for both Internal Medicine residents and College of Medicine in Temple Texas. She was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Attending in Internal Medicine award by Texas A&M Medical Students in 2018.
She is currently employed by The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine as Chair of Internal Medicine at UTRGV and Assistant Professor for the Internal Medicine Residency UTRGV/Doctors Hospital Renaissance. Her special interests include population health, preventive care, and training the next generation of physicians.
- Fatimah Oluwakemi Bello MD, MPH
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Program Director, Internal Medicine / Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Dr. Fatimah (Kemi) Bello was born and raised in Nigeria. She obtained her medical degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, Nigeria. After graduating from medical school, she went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) at Harvard University, Boston, MA and is in the process of completing a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree in Healthcare Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She recently completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance where she was awarded the outstanding 2nd year in 2018 and she also served as the Chief Resident. She is also a Fellow of the Texas Medical Association Leadership College. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor and Interim Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency UTRGV/Knapp Medical Center. Dr. Bello is very passionate about health disparities, particularly relating to gender, race and historically underserved communities. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling and spending time with her family.
- Cesar Gutierrez MD
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Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine / Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Dr. Cesar Gutierrez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, but was raised in the border town of Camargo, Tamaulipas, across from Rio Grande City. He considers himself a Valley native. He did his medical school in the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. He was part of the inaugural class of Internal Medicine residents of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance; he completed his training in 2018. He served as chief resident of Internal Medicine at his same institution. He's a board-certified internist. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Department of Internal Medicine of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine and serves as co-director for POCUS elective and leads resident research. He’s also currently enrolled in a Master of Science in Epidemiology through the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health.
Faculty
- Andres Arboleda, MD
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Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Dr. Andres Arboleda was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. He obtained his medical degree from Universidad Central del Ecuador and a Masters in Business Administration from Universidad de las Americas. Dr. Arboleda had a variety of great opportunities while working as a general physician; the most rewarding was working with the Ecuadorian army helping the underserved population in the Amazon jungle. Dr. Arboleda’s thirst for knowledge and new challenges brought him to the United States to certify his degree and seek for a residency program that could further develop him into the doctor he wants to become. The opportunity to work with wonderful mentors, researchers and technology in a beautiful setting made him fall in love with the UTRGV-DHR Internal Medicine program. He graduated from residency in July 2020 and decided to pursue a career in academic medicine to help train the next generation of physicians at UTRGV KMC Internal Medicine Program.
Dr. Arboleda has a missionary heart and acknowledges the importance of working with the patient and for the patient to promote health. His ultimate goal is to influence global health initiatives in a way to create a bridge between the U.S. and his home country of Ecuador; reaching out with resources and expertise to people in need. In his free time Dr. Arboleda enjoys exploring new places, dancing to Latin rhythms and working on his physical fitness.
- Timothy Heath, MD
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Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Dr. Tim Heath was born and raised in Cocoa Beach, Florida and grew up in the Orlando area. He saw Cinderella’s castle when it was a wooden frame. He played basketball in high school and attended the University of Florida (Go Gators!). Dr. Heath’s family then moved to Texas where he attended The University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He then returned to Florida for his internal medicine residency and quickly realized that home is where the family is and returned to Texas where he has been practicing general internal medicine for over 16 years.
Dr. Heath had always wanted to teach so he joined the faculty at Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth. There, he taught Introduction to Clinical Medicine and third- and fourth-year medical students in the internal medicine clinic. His passions are teaching medicine and golf. Now in South Texas, Dr. Heath is addicted to Diet Coke and Delia’s Tamales.
Staff
- Cristina Hinojosa Cantu
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Program Coordinator
Cristina was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. She graduated from the University of Texas – Pan American (now known as UTRGV) where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Business Administration. Throughout her collegiate years, Cristina worked at the university on a part time basis. A few years after graduation she secured a full time position with the Procurement Department and later with the Business Service Center before moving on to the School of Medicine. In June of 2017, Cristina joined the GME family as the Residency Program Coordinator for Preventive Medicine. She has since been a part of numerous programs, including Sports Medicine, Gastroenterology, Cardiology, Transitional Year, and now Internal Medicine.
Subspecialty Coordinators (SEC)
Subspecialty Coordinators (SEC)
| Faculty Name |
SEC |
| Eduardo Flores, MD |
Cardiology & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Luis Rosas, MD |
Infectious Disease & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Eduardo Luna, MD |
Endocrinology & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Elvin Garcia, MD |
Rheumatology & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Daniel Farray-Berges, MD |
Hematology/Oncology & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Alfredo Arauco-Brown, MD |
Pulmonology & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Ricardo Abreu, MD |
Critical Care Medicine & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Roberto Manllo-Karim, MD |
Nephrology & Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Jean Cabrera, MD |
Geriatrics/ Clinical Assistant Professor |
| Valeska Balderas, MD |
Gastroenterology & Clinical Assistant Professor |
