Dr. Carpenter is a 1974 graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas and a 1979 summa cum laude graduate from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.  His medical education continued at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas during an Internal Medicine internship and residency and a Gastroenterology fellowship until 1984.  Dr. Carpenter served as an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine for Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia in 1984-1985.

He became board certified in Internal Medicine in 1982 and Gastroenterology in 1985.

Dr. Carpenter is a member of the McLennan County Medical Society, American Gastroenterological Association, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Texas Medical Association, American Medical Association and Alpha Omega Alpha.