Dr. Jeremy Smith

Dr. Smith is an innovator and a free-market economy minded physician. Born and raised by two incredible parents in Wichita Falls, Texas, Dr. Jeremy Smith was instilled with the most important tools he needed to become a good physician long before grade school was finished. He was taught to have character, respect others and learned the ability to listen.

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In addition to what he learned from his parents, Dr. Smith was formally educated at Midwestern State University where he completed a Bachelors of Science focused on zoology and premedical sciences. Several highlights during his undergraduate study and postgraduate training include time spent in the Dalquest Field research areas of West Texas, University of Oklahoma’s Lake Texhoma Biological Institute, and study abroad to King’s College in London, England at Waterloo.

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In 2003, Dr. Smith graduated with a Medical Degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. His residency in Family Medicine was completed in 2006 at University of Texas Health Science Center in Tyler, Texas.

Following residency, Dr. Smith moved his medical practice and his family to Nacogdoches, Texas.

Nacogdoches, Texas

Dr. Chris Larson

Dr. Larson came to medicine after having already started a career in finance.  He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a business degree.  After witnessing the deleterious effects of modern medical practice on relatives and loved ones, he decided to return to school and to practice medicine in an alternative fashion.

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Dr. Larson’s goal in medicine is, and has always been, to help people live a healthier life and a life with less pain while reducing the risks of modern treatments.  He will tell you that he was fortunate to have found an Osteopathic medical school because Osteopathy allows him a way to reach this goal.

After completing medical school at The University of North Texas Health Science Center, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, he attended a family medicine residency at Christus Santa Rosa in San Antonio.  Since his graduation from residency in 2010, he has enjoyed living in Austin.

Austin, Texas

Dr. Staci Benson 

Dr. Benson graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in biology. She earned a master’s degree in health psychology from Texas State University. She then went onto the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine and then completed her family medicine residency at Methodist Charlton in Dallas.

She opened Paradigm Family Health in December 2016, a direct primary care solo family practice in Dallas, Texas and is active in health policy in Texas and at the federal level working to influence positive changes in healthcare.   Dr. Benson has served in many leadership positions and is active in her local, state and national medical organizations.  She currently serves as Vice President of the Texas State Society of American College of Family Physicians.  In her spare time, she enjoys working to make a positive impact in our world.  This year she was award the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association Humanitarian Award and her alma mater, Southwestern University, recognized her as a Distinguished Humanitarian Alumni.  Most importantly, she is the mother to four amazing little children and married to her college sweetheart.

Dallas, Texas

Dr. Annette Marin

Tomball, Texas

Dr Annette Marin was born in central Texas but spent her younger childhood in the backwoods of British Columbia, Canada. She later returned to central Texas where she spent the remainder of her childhood. She was raised by dedicated Christian parents who taught her the inherent value of every human being. Her parents worked in the field of health education and she quickly absorbed their passion for helping people improve and reverse chronic disease through lifestyle change.

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She graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California in 2005 and completed an internal medicine residency in Portland, OR in 2008. After residency she worked as a hospitalist for about 4 years, followed by primary care in an underserved clinic for 3 years.

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After having her daughter she took a little break from clinical medicine and started daydreaming about having her own clinic. She got connected with the idea of direct primary care and after moving to Houston, TX, with her husband and daughter, opened her own practice.

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Dr Marin loves long term relationships with patients and is delighted to have time to communicate. She continues to be passionate about minimizing need for medications and improving health through lifestyle change.

Dr. John Davidhizar believes medical care should be accessible and timely. Doctors should be directly approachable & responsive (instead of through an answering service), an advocate for you in other environments (in the hospital, E.R., and with other specialists), and a trusted advisor who is accountable to you, knows you by name and cares about protecting your most important asset, your health. A practice should have transparent pricing with no surprises, and be free of government and insurance dictates that oftentimes do not have the best interest of the patient in mind.

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Dr. John was born and raised in Texas, coming from a family of 12. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M University, completed medical school at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, and is board certified in Family Medicine. He started his DPC practice in July 2014 and is excited about providing care at a practice that makes possible many of the health care principles he is passionate about.

Dr. John Davidhizar

College Station, Texas

Dr. Clint Carter

Dr. Clint Carter was raised on the shores of Lake Tyler in a home that prized discipline, aptitude, excellence, and a belief in a sovereign God who provides the kind of grace that made it safe to do the right thing.

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Clint attended University of Texas Houston for his Doctorate in Medicine. Afterwards he trained in the highly respected Family Medicine Residency at the UT Health Science Center, Tyler.

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Due to the state of medicine at the time of graduation in 2007, Clint chose to become an emergency physician, where he was able to provide state of the art emergency care when needed, but became frustrated that the vast majority of the people he saw weren’t having emergencies but just needed a doctor that had the time to treat them. Now Dr. Carter performs his trade as it was intended as a Direct Primary Concierge Doctor.

Tyler, Texas

Dr. Kyle Rickner

Yukon, Oklahoma

Dr. Rickner is a native Oklahoman and currently lives and works in the greater Oklahoma city area. He is striving to bring some common sense back to the chaos that has become medicine, to eliminate all the hassles with having doctor-patient relationship which is the essence of healthcare. He is passionate about bringing this experience not only to patients but to physicians as well. Dr. Rickner believes that this model of care can meaningfully impact the business community by finally giving them a partner in bringing health benefits and care to their employees and actually controlling their costs.

Dr. Rickner received his B.S. in Biology from Southern Nazarene University, where he also played basketball for four years. After one year stents of playing basketball professionally in England and doing clinical research, he attended Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. He then did his Family Practice Residency training at Great Plains Family Practice in Oklahoma city where he finished in 2001. Dr. Rickner proudly served in U.S. Army as a physician following residency and was part of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Ft. Bragg, NC.

In 2006 he returned to Oklahoma and worked with large health system for 9 years before becoming a DPC doctor in January of 2016. Dr. Rickner married his beautiful wife Julie in 1989 and they have four amazing kids Makenna, Mitchell, Maya and Matthew and two kids by marriage Austin and Kayla. In his spare time Dr. Rickner loves being involved with his church and small group, running with friends and playing golf when he can. If the OKC Thunder are playing he will either be in front of the television or at the arena!

Dr. Robert Lockwood

Yukon, Oklahoma

Bio coming soon.

Dr. Geetender Goyal

Houston, Texas

Dr. Geetu was undoubtedly a skilled covert military expert shrouding his known history until he popped onto the radar in Medical school in Government Medical College, Chandigarh. India.

From there he traveled to the cultural center of the Texas coast and extended his training at the oldest medical school west of the great Mississippi river where he did his residency in Internal Medicine at University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.

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Then pushing further into medical training he completed a Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

During this path he started a family with his wife and enjoys his two children now in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Hannah Shelton

Conroe, Texas

I was born in Austin, Texas but raised three hours north, up the I-35 corridor in Dallas. While attending Highland Park High School, I ran cross country and upon graduation majored in psychology at the University of Georgia. Go Dawgs! Texas called me back home to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. After obtaining a master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from The University of North Texas Health Science Center, I completed my Doctorate of Medicine at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth. Choosing family medicine as my specialty was an easy decision because I value building relationships with patients and their families. In addition, I have found it extremely rewarding in caring for patients of all ages, infants to the elderly. I completed my extensive training with the Conroe Medical Education Foundation in affiliation with the Lone Star Family Health Center. The current fee-for-service, insurance-based model of medicine prevents me from practicing medicine as I have always dreamed and therefore is my reason for joining the Direct Primary Care movement. This DPC model is just as my Papa practiced medicine 40 years ago, with a leather doctor’s bag and a big heart for his patients. I hope to return primary care to its roots of purity with a direct, uninterrupted relationship between doctor and patient. While not practicing medicine, I enjoy traveling, scuba diving, jogging, wake-surfing, cooking, spending time with friends and family and playing with my rambunctious yellow Lab, Remy. I look forward to having the opportunity to spend time with you and your family and I am excited to be a true Advocate for your health. 

Michelle Merrell, APRN

Edmond, Oklahoma

Michelle Merrell grew up in Guthrie where her grandfather, Dr. Webber Merrell, was a family physician for more than 40 years.  She was inspired by the positive impact his care and compassion had on the community.  She has chosen a career in direct primary care so that she may have close, meaningful relationships with her patients, similar to the ones of small town providers of the past.

Michelle describes her training as an “education divided” with degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.  She first attended OSU where she received a Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism.  Her first job was at KFOR in Oklahoma City.  She worked in television news for 5 years before taking time off to be a stay at home mom.  When she returned to work, Michelle felt called to pursue a career in healthcare. She received her Bachelor’s in Nursing from the University of Oklahoma and her Master’s in Nursing from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.  As a family nurse practitioner, Michelle is licensed to care for patients of all ages.

Prior to joining Primary Health Partners, Michelle practiced with Mercy Primary Care in Edmond.  Her passions include healthcare, motherhood, and home improvement.

Dr. Lori McCoy

Ashland, Kentucky

Dr. McCoy earned her Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and also has a B.A. from Marshall University.  She was Chief Resident in Family Medicine in Ashland, KY.  During her residency, she had the opportunity to help the underserved in a community health clinic.  She was also the medical director at a local nursing home for five years. 

As a family physician, she strives to be an advocate for her patients and enjoys seeing patients of all ages.  She enjoys personally connecting with her patients and encouraging them as they work to achieve their health goals.  That must be obvious to her patients as well:  Advanced Primary Care was named a national “Hero of Healthcare” in 2019, based on patient submissions across the country.  Lori believes in practicing medicine that puts patients first.  She also seeks out opportunities to help employers “think outside the box” when it comes to providing affordable and high-quality health benefits to their employees.

Dr. Bhavana Rao

Woodlands, Texas

.Bhavana Rao is a board certified Family physician practicing medicine since 2008 in The Woodlands and Houston area. She trained at the Conroe Family Medicine Residency program. Family medicine is her passion. She believes in a patient-centered care and a wholesome approach to healthcare.

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Dr. Rao grew up in India and moved to Houston in 2005. Her favorite memories from childhood always revolve around family get togethers. She has always loved having extended family and friends over to chat and have a good time. She believes food is a great uniter. She love to cook Indian curry dishes and make it a point the whole family eats together at the dinner table.

Dr. Roger Moczygemba

San Antonio, Texas

Roger Moczygemba MD graduated from Texas A&M Health Science Center then trained in Family Practice in the Navy. He has worked in Family Practice, Occupational Medicine and Urgent Care for 27 years. He was a pioneer in the telemedicine industry as the first president and lead physician in one of the nation’s largest telemedicine companies. Dr. Moczygemba excited about restoring the doctor-patient relationship through the Direct Primary Care model.

Jay Marsolan, RN, FNP-C

Longview, Texas

Jay was born and raised in Southeast Texas where he discovered a love for helping others early in life.  While in college pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology, he served as a paramedic and continued after college to work as a flight paramedic. Upon completing his nursing degree, he continued to work in emergency medicine as an ER nurse and flight nurse. He graduated in 2011 with an MSN and became board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner. His career has included several years in the emergency department, urgent care, occupation medicine and family practice.

Jay is currently pursuing board certification as a functional medicine practitioner.  This journey has lead him to a better understanding of ways to help those with challenging and often frustrating chronic illnesses that have not responded to conventional medications and treatments. His passion is helping patients find root causes of disease and real answers to the medical conditions and questions they bring. Jay has gained extensive knowledge and experience in helping others find real health by incorporating both conventional and functional medicine techniques.

Dr. Prisiliano Salas

San Antonio, Texas

Dr. Prisiliano Salas Jr. is a native of the Rio Grande Valley and graduated from The University of Texas Pan American with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology. He then completed his medical degree at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. He was accepted to his first choice residency program at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency in San Antonio. It was during this time, he fell in love with the city and decided to open his first private practice. In 2014, Dr. Salas started ALON Family Health with one of his residency colleagues and has grown that practice into a very busy and robust Family Medicine
clinic serving patients of all ages.

In 2018, he had the opportunity to improve the customized care he offers to his patients through Salveo Direct Care, one of the first Direct Primary Care (DPC) clinics in San Antonio. In this new model of practice, Dr. Salas will be able to help his patients transform their healthcare without the limitations that health insurance can have on outpatient office visits. He is a strong believer and supporter of wellness and prevention with a focus on educating his patients to achieve better health.

His goal is to help you stay healthy and slow down the progression of diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart and kidney disease. Salveo Direct Care represents the evolution of his medical career and return to
the core of family medicine, truly personalized and transparent care for his patients of all ages.

Dr. Thomas Kay

New Braunfels, Texas

I am a Board Certified Family Medicine physician who has been practicing for more than 20 years, taking care of newborns to century-ians. Since medical school, my great love for medicine has always been caring for all ages, helping with acute illnesses (from common colds to serious problems), chronic health concerns, disease prevention, and my favorite, wellness promotion. While gaining experience in treating patients the world over, I have come to see a common thread, patients want to be heard and cared for – we all do actually Over the last couple decades, I have become disillusioned with the trend of doctor/patient relationships. In our current model, we often have no time to address the real health concerns of our patients.

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​In the time that my family and I have spent living on the mission field in Romania, as well as time in Uganda and Haiti, I have seen medicine practiced a variety of ways and this allowed me to begin thinking outside the box. When I began to consider what an ideal medical practice would look like, I landed on Direct Primary Care. In this model, I know my patients – every one of them, discuss their medical needs, and partner with them to create health.

Dr. Douglas Brooks

Olathe, Kansas

Dr. Brooks was born and raised in western Pennsylvania, attended college in Lancaster and, upon graduating, moved west to Kansas City. He entered medical school in the summer of 1983 and married his wife, Chris, the following summer.

 She was the driving force behind their move to Kansas as she was still in college at the time. Just prior to finishing medical school, they were blessed with the addition of their first child Caroline. That summer he started in a family-medicine residency at St. Mary’s Hospital in downtown Kansas City, MO.

By early 1988, the decision was made to close that residency. He chose to continue serving his residency at St. Joseph Medical Center in South Bend, Indiana beginning the following summer. Once he graduated from residency, the family moved back to Kansas.

He took a job in Olathe, KS and has been practicing in the general vicinity ever since. He and Chris added to their family in early 1995 with the exciting arrival of Jonathan. In 1997 they moved to the country and have lived the farm life ever since. In late 2000 the family grew again with the wonderful addition of Drew.