Bryan Kharbanda, MD, Program Director
Board Certified in emergency medicine and serving as the Program Director for the Transitional Year Residency. He has worked in emergency medicine for over ten years throughout the Houston and Dallas areas and has carried out several academic, administrative, and leadership roles in EM.
Dr. Kharbanda completed his medical school and emergency medicine residency at UT Southwestern Medical School. He is excited about the opportunity to continue to build this new program. He is even more enthusiastic about building a strong foundation for our future doctors. He is married to a psychiatrist who he met during his residency and has two daughters. He loves tennis, ecology, and coffee.
Omer Farooq, MD
Dr. Farooq is a board-certified internist with over 23 years of medical experience. He serves as the chairman of the Physician Performance and Evaluation Committee, the Utilization Review Committee, and as vice chief of staff. Dr. Farooq has been actively involved in teaching throughout his career. He loves passing his knowledge to the next generation of physicians. He is married to a dentist and they have two beautiful teenaged daughters. His hobbies include music, traveling and spending time with family.
Vernon Lawrence, MD, MPH
Dr. Lawrence is board-certified in internal medicine and critical care. He has served as the medical director for critical care medicine and cardiopulmonary services at HCA Houston Healthcare West since 2015. He also serves on various committees with a focus on quality improvement initiatives. Dr. Lawrence is a fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Internists and the American College of Chest Physicians.
Katan Patel, DO, MEd
Dr. Patel is board-certified in emergency medicine and serves as the emergency department rotation director. He is actively involved in research and is passionate about resident education and technology integration in clinical practice and critical care. Dr. Patel is originally from California and moved to Texas after residency for the weather and southern hospitality. His hobbies include hiking, home improvement projects and reading.
Carol Gambrill, DO
Carol Gambrill, DO serves as the FM Residency Interim Program Director. She was born and raised in Anadarko, Oklahoma. After attending medical school at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa, OK, she completed her internship and residency at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences. She is dual Board Certified in Family Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine. She has shared her passion for academic medicine since 2013, serving as Core Faculty and Program Director spanning two residency programs in Oklahoma and Texas, and has helped train over 60 Family Medicine Resident physicians.