Finding Her “Why”: A Chief Resident’s Journey to Serve with Purpose
November 7, 2025
Trained at Central Health’s Southeast Health & Wellness Center, Dr. Priyanka Jagannathan now helps shape the next generation of doctors committed to equity and empathy.
One of the first lessons Dr. Priyanka Jagannathan learned as a resident physician three years ago was humility.
“I think it’s important to take a step back to understand where everyone’s coming from,” said Dr. Jagannathan, 29, a Class of 2022 graduate of Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.
In her fourth year of medical school, Jagannathan matched to Dell Med’s Internal Medicine Residency program, which led to three years training in internal medicine with CommUnityCare Health Centers inside the Central Health Southeast Health & Wellness Center. Part of her education was understanding the patient populations of the Central Health system, which provides comprehensive health care to Travis County residents with low income.
Another was understanding that, just 10 or so miles east of Interstate 35, a person could have a completely different health outcome than their peer west of the city. Chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and behavioral health are among the most prevalent in Eastern Travis County, per a 2024 Central Health demographic report.
That’s one of the main reasons why Dell Med has been so important to Central Texas. Over the past 11 years, through a unique collaboration with Central Health—first supported by voters in 2012, Travis County taxpayers provide an annual $35 million investment into the medical school—health care delivery has transformed in Travis Country, helping reduce wait times in clinics and creating better outcomes for those who need it most.
In 2025, 243 resident physicians are rotating through 12 programs across a network of CommUnityCare clinics. That hands-on training inside clinics prepares those same doctors to become licensed in their area of specialty before practicing in the field.
Just over a decade after Central Health, The University of Texas System and Ascension Seton first signed an affiliation agreement to formalize the organizations’ relationship to improve health care in Travis county, various medical specialties and diagnostic services have launched within the Central Health system and hundreds of resident physicians have trained inside CommUnityCare clinics, providing greater access to thousands of MAP patients while creating positive pathways to improved health for everyone.
In fact, since 2019, CommUnityCare has hired 15 attending physicians across internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, and OBYGN, with some of those doctors coming from Dell Med.
Dr. Jagannathan’s entry into that system has provided another value-based example of why it’s changing the future of health in Central Texas. Today, the Houston native is an Internal Medicine Chief Resident at Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, the safety-net hospital for Travis Country.
“Whether I’m teaching or improving the system of care or supporting the people I work with,” Jagannathan said, “I want to do my part in making the healthcare system feel as human as possible for everyone.” – Dr. Priyanka Jagannathan
As an attending physician, she oversees internal medicine trainees at Central Health’s Southeast Health & Wellness Center.
“This clinical experience taught me a lot about gratitude,” said Dr. Jagannathan, whose future aim is to become an academic gastroenterologist. “I hope to take that with me in my future career by being in a position that prioritizes good patient relationships and an environment where people can ask questions and grow.”
Dell Med Stories
A Journey from Pain to Purpose
Inspired by her personal journey, Ayisha Mahama is training in dermatology to bring hope and care to Central Texas patients. Read More
Figuring Out Her Why
Three years ago, Dr. Jagannathan’s starting point as a trainee was essential because it served to remind her why she vowed to step into the field in the first place.
“It is important for me to work for Travis County patients, because they’re the reason so many of us are physicians today,” said Dr. Jagannathan, who’s the first in her family to become a doctor. “They’ve poured into us, and I think it’ s a very special population we have here in Austin.”
In the clinic over her time as a resident, she says her approach to medicine focused on understanding the core of each patient’s issues. Soon, all that experience was bottled up and taken into her next role.
With aims to specialize in gastroenterology and clinical education, the Dell Med graduate has been a co-author on six research papers evaluating and improving health care delivery—research that has appeared in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, the American Journal of Gastroenterology and Digestive Disease and Sciences.
Shifting Roles
Dr. Jagannathan’s job as a chief resident means she will help shape Dell Med’s world-class health care delivery through an education role. That position will also include coordinating lectures and devising curriculum.
“Whether I’m teaching or improving the system of care or supporting the people I work with,” Jagannathan said, “I want to do my part in making the healthcare system feel as human as possible for everyone.”
“It is so important that you learn how to function as part of a team, and none of the decisions we make are on our own. Always lean into others for support.” – Dr. Priyanka Jagannathan
While Jagannathan’s aims are in academia, she plans to remain in practice. She says she remains committed to serving patients from all backgrounds.
“As a physician, I care about providing good, thoughtful care and making it easier for others to do the same,” she said. “I want my patients to feel seen and understood, especially as they navigate complex and chronic medical conditions.
Learned Insights
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of Dr. Jagannathan’s training years, she said, was the perspective yielded from the work.
“I would tell a doctor entering residency today three things,” Dr. Jagannathan said. “The first is to never worry alone. It is so important that you learn how to function as part of a team, and none of the decisions we make are on our own. Always lean into others for support.
“I would also tell them that providing care for patients is a privilege, but advocating for them is a responsibility—take that extra minute in the room to learn something from them.
“And the third is to prioritize yourself. You are a person outside of being a physician, and that is extremely important.”
