New Texas Medical School Set to Emphasize Primary Care

Something big is brewing in Texas -- a new medical school that aims to change the way medical students in the state are recruited and trained, and that ultimately will steer many of them straight into a career in primary care. 

Plans for the University of Houston (UH) College of Medicine were first discussed in 2013, and a vision for its framework began to take shape in 2014.

Along the way, those charged with crafting the medical school's focus and curriculum proclaimed a bold goal: 50 percent of graduates will pursue primary care in family medicine, internal medicine or pediatric residency programs.

But administrators didn't stop there; they also vowed to achieve, over time, a demographic mix whereby 50 percent of their student body will identify as an underrepresented minority.

Pending accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the inaugural class of 30 medical students will begin their studies in 2020 -- tuition free -- thanks to an anonymous $3 million donation.

That's the short version of this story. But the enticing details are best told by Stephen Spann, M.D., M.B.A., vice president of medical affairs and founding dean of the UH College of Medicine.

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