We talk a lot about what Fort Worth needs, particularly with XTO Energy leaving four downtown towers empty.
But we don’t say enough about colleges or higher education, or how more and stronger universities can drive innovation and success back to Fort Worth.
We’re on the verge of a big step forward. A new medical school offering M.D. degrees is expected to open in 2019 in a partnership between TCU and the successful University of North Texas medical school.
The inaugural class of 60 TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine students aren’t expected to arrive until summer 2019, but medical school was in full swing in June with 27 eager scholars spending their days on the TCU and UNT Health Science Center campuses. Students logged time in the anatomy lab, learned emergency medical procedures and participated in dissection activities – responses overheard ranged from “so cool!” to “so gross!” And that’s exactly what the designers of the program were hoping for.
Junior Medical School is a week-long program that allows rising Fort Worth ISD eighth-grade students to discover medicine, empower personal achievement and develop a network of peers and mentors through hands-on medical activities. The program was made possible by the support of local physician volunteers and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation’s workforce development grant through UNTHSC.
“Our goal was to create an environment that excites students and inspires them to explore the possibilities of higher education through activities that many won’t have the opportunity to experience until they reach college,” said Associate Dean of Admissions and Student Diversity Tara Cunningham, Ed.D.
The students were recommended by their respective principals to apply for the program and collectively attend J.P. Elder Middle School, Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Young Women’s Leadership Academy. The camp simulated a college experience, with nearly all activities taking place on the two university campuses. Participants received acceptance letters to the program in May, as well as their own set of scrubs to keep, presented during closing ceremonies.
Students spent the week learning from local physicians who volunteered their time to teach classes and lead lab activities. Junior Medical School campers dissected an animal eye, practiced their suturing skills with the aid of simulated skin pads, learned the proper way to scrub in for a procedure and regularly engaged with their college-student counselors.
“These students learned a lot this week, but I think I may have learned even more just by watching them and seeing their excitement,” said Christine Pho, “Serving as their counselor this week is something that will impact me for years to come.”
Students were also able to get a behind-the-scenes hospital experience, thanks to Texas Health Resources. One field trip was spent suiting up and scrubbing in to enter an operating room at Texas Health Clearfork so students could try their hand at a simulated knee replacement. Staff volunteered to assist the students, giving them a tour of the tools used in orthopedic surgery.
At Texas Health Harris Methodist, students spent time in the Amon G. Carter Medical Simulation Training Center, learning from emergency medicine residents from John Peter Smith Hospital about how they react in real-life trauma situations.
“They got to experience technology they normally wouldn’t get to see at this point in their education,” said Adam Jennings, director of medical simulation at John Peter Smith Hospital. “We conducted an ultrasound, they got to draw fake medications in a controlled environment, did chest compressions – they would never get to do any of this in a real-life situation, but the simulation lab makes that experience possible.”
One student, Diego Montalvo, was especially impacted by the simulation center. “To see an emergency room in action is surprising. I didn’t think you’d need that many people to save a person’s life.”
The week concluded with a graduation ceremony held on TCU’s campus, with family and friends of the participating students in attendance. The School of Medicine plans to continue to connect with these students throughout their middle education, exposing them to career opportunities in the science and medical fields and equipping them for their future endeavors.
“We may not have our own students yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start engaging with the community and giving back now,” Cunningham said. “Investing in local students is a priority for our school and we want to give back to the community that continues to support us in so many ways.”
It’s been years in the making (and has hurdles yet to clear), but the University of North Texas Health Science Center is one step closer to offering both osteopathic (D.O.) and allopathic (M.D.) medical degrees.
We have state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, and Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, to thank for that.
The two lawmakers are responsible for sponsoring and shepherding House Bill 1913 — which will undo the 1993 statute preventing UNTHSC from awarding M.D.’s — through the Legislature and to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. It was signed on May 29.
The law also allows the president of UNTHSC to be someone other than a doctor of osteopathic medicine, expanding the hiring pool for future presidents.
The TCU and UNT Health Science Center School of Medicine, which is scheduled to open in 2019, has named Evonne Kaplan-Liss as an assistant dean of communications. She will focus on training students and faculty “to be effective communicators and empathetic scholars.”
Kaplan-Liss will also develop the curriculum and create an environment that teaches medical students to communicate more effectively with patients, colleagues, the community, media, donors, and policymakers, according to UNTHSC. When working with faculty, she will lead communication training and work to incorporate the communication curriculum within the medical school.
Kaplan-Liss previously served as founding medical director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science in New York state. There, she developed the curriculum and led national and international workshops to educate students, faculty, and administrators.
In addition to the rigors of medical school, studying for board exams and applying for residency programs, medical students are strapped with an additional worry: growing student debt.
The average medical school debt upon graduation is $192,000, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. For many, that’s a mortgage.
The inaugural class of TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine students, expected to arrive July 2019, will be able to breathe a little easier, thanks to a generous gift made by pharmaceutical executive, business investor and entrepreneur Paul Dorman.
The H. Paul Dorman Charter Scholarship Program will provide full first-year tuition to 60 students, known as Dorman Scholars. Dorman’s gift will change the lives of these future physicians and the countless patients they will care for in the future.
Dorman is chairman and CEO of DFB Pharmaceuticals, a Fort Worth-based holding company that during the last 20 years has successfully invested, developed and operated multiple pharmaceutical businesses. His entrepreneurial ventures have helped develop life-saving drugs, advance research and improve quality of life for patients. He and his associates are currently actively involved in leading edge development of nanoparticles of chemotherapy drugs for improvement in the treatment of cancer and have four clinical trials in progress.
“I understand the need for exceptionally trained physicians and I believe the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine team is creating the right formula to prepare students to practice medicine in the future,” Dorman said. “This school will change the medical and economic landscape of our community and I can’t wait to meet the students who will make up the first class.”
Providing tuition support not only helps relieve debt, it also allows students to pursue all areas of education without feeling pressured to focus on the highest paid specialties. Supported students will lead to passionate physicians.
“The importance of philanthropic support for our future medical students is profound and I am grateful and humbled by Mr. Dorman’s generous gift,” said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., founding dean of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. “The value and meaning of this gift to our first class are immense. The Fort Worth community continues to amaze me with its generosity and support and Mr. Dorman’s gift wonderfully exemplifies this.”
The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine, set to open in 2019, will have a $100 million to $150 million economic impact on Fort Worth when it reaches maturity in about 10 years, but that shrinks into insignificance when the overall impact of an academic medical center is considered, says consultant Paul Umbach.
“When you look at the economic impact of a medical school, you really just start with the medical school itself. That’s the teaching of medical students, and it’s the faculty and the folks that come together,” Umbach said at a Leadership Fort Worth community event on April 18 at the Fort Worth Club and at a later news conference. Both focused on health care.
“But when you start to look across the country at all of the academic medical centers, the average is about $1.7 billion a year for each of those,” Umbach said. “Keep in mind, that’s every year; so, every year there’s $1.7 billion that circulates throughout the regional economy from a fully developed academic medical center.”
Texas Christian University and UNT Health Science Center have selected a dean to lead the new medical school the two institutions are establishing in Fort Worth: Dr. Stuart Flynn, current dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.
In his new role, Flynn will lead development of an education model focused on teamwork, with the goal of improving patient care and the business of medicine. The dean said he sees an opportunity for innovation that can impact healthcare in Texas for generations.
A new M.D. school expected to open here in 2018 is more than an academic addition to TCU and the University of North Texas Health Science Center: It represents a shift toward more prestige and a higher profile nationally and globally for the universities and the city.
The private Texas Christian University, with its nationally recognized football and baseball teams, already seems to be constantly on the move — upgrading the campus, investing in academics and getting national attention. Plans for the new medical school are an indicator to many that the momentum is continuing.
“It means that we are advancing and expanding our prominence in the country and in the state,” said Ali Medders, a senior majoring in biology at TCU. “TCU has done great in football and baseball, and now we are showing that we are also a huge group that is going to have a lot of influence in Texas and the country.”
There are just two medical schools in the D/FW area, but that will soon change thanks to a collaboration between two Fort Worth institutions.
Texas Christian University and UNT Health Science Center officially announced plans on Monday to develop a new medical school which will offer MD degrees.
It’s something both schools have looked at and sought since 2008 to 2009. Mayor Betsy Price says she’s been working on the medical school for the last two years, but that six to eight months ago is finally when the two universities started talking about working together.
“I think it’s a wonderful addition for the city, but moreover, it’s a wonderful addition to the academic program of both universities,” said Victor Boschini, TCU Chancellor.