To address the shortage of primary care physicians in South Texas and improve the preparation and training of those physicians, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) will jointly offer a unique pilot program starting in fall 2013 that will allow students to obtain their Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in biology and their Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from the institutions in seven years.
The program’s first students are expected to graduate in 2020 with their medical degrees.
The combined degree program is part of a UT System initiative to transform medical education. The new program will increase the effectiveness and relevance of pre-doctoral physician education while shortening its duration and decreasing its cost.
“It currently takes an aspiring physician eight years to earn a bachelor’s degree and a medical degree, which does not include the medical residency,” said George Perry, dean of the UTSA College of Sciences. “In those eight years, the average student amasses more than $140,000 in medical school debt. Forty percent of those students also have undergraduate debt.”
The combined degree program will include traditional science coursework, team-taught courses, innovative seminar courses, the medical school curriculum and a continuum throughout the program. In addition, the curriculum will include instruction in humanities, patient safety and effectiveness, public health and evidence-based practice, philosophy, economics, language and culture.
“Addressing the physician shortage in Texas will take many forms, and this program is an important one,” said Dr. Francisco González-Scarano, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at UTHSCSA. “This type of program has been proven at other schools to be an excellent career path. It will be a valuable option for those students who are focused on medical school as they leave high school.
“Furthermore, if this program is eventually expanded, shortening the time required in order to become a physician will have an important effect on the physician shortage in Texas.”
Participants will study at UTSA for three years to earn the bachelor’s degree in biology. Courses will include medical school preparation such as biology, chemistry, genetics, physiology and others offered by the UTSA College of Sciences and undergraduate courses required by Texas.
The pilot program also includes UTSA’s “Exploring Health Professions” course, an introduction to a wide variety of health professions with a focus on the medical humanities and ethics, and “Gateway to Health Care” courses that teach students to examine public health issues through multiple lenses.
Students in a gateway course on obesity, for example, would explore the issue from public health, economic, cultural, behavioral, humanistic, ethical, spiritual, relationship and medical perspectives.
To matriculate to UTHSCSA, students at UTSA would take the MCAT and earn a minimum score of 27.
Participants will begin studies at UTHSCSA in their fourth year. Upon matriculation, pilot program participants will be integrated with the center’s incoming medical school class.
Moreover, they will have access to all available resources from the university’s Office of Academic Enhancement. UTSA will award the students their B.S. in biology after they complete their fourth year in the program.
In addition to the prescribed medical curriculum, instruction at UTHSCSA will include the ethical and professional values of medicine such as empathy, excellence, altruism and integrity. Students will also receive training in communications, leadership and health economics.
In addition, community service learning will be central to the combined degree program. Throughout the seven-year program, students will interact with diverse patient populations. Program partners will include SAMMinistries, Alpha Home, Seton Home, Haven for Hope and Ronald McDonald House.
To help students succeed, the program will also include mentorship. Primary care role models and educators will meet regularly with students individually and in groups, in person and online. Mentorship will help students develop their professional identities. Assessments will gauge each candidate’s maturation, experiences and reflection.
It is estimated that 75 percent of the students who enroll in the pilot B.S./M.D. program will complete it. Consequently, the program will include exit points that allow the remaining students to pursue a variety of majors or pre-health professions with little to no loss of course credits.
At the end of the program, UTHSCSA and UTSA will report a variety of measurements to the UT System, including the reaction of the program’s students, their learning, their performance and the impact of the program.
David Henzi, Ed.D., is director of academic enhancement for the School of Medicine at UTHSCSA; Hans Heidner, Ph.D., is assistant chair of biology at UTSA; and Alan Vince, Ph.D., is director of the Health Professions Office at UTSA.
To learn additional details about the B.S./M.D. program, contact Henzi’s office at 210-567-0638 or Vince’s office at 210-458-5185.
