A Study to Evaluate the Creation of a Doctor of Medicine Degree

At the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth

The University of North Texas System Board of Regents, Chancellor, and the UNT Health Science Center President will sponsor a comprehensive and balanced evaluation of various proposals to create an MD degree at the UNTHSC within an agreed framework of expectations. 

 

Study Assumptions and Framework

 

The study will be guided, developed, and submitted by a Study Group as outlined below and will work from these operating assumptions:

1. The UNTHSC will clearly commit under all scenarios and options to continue to operate, preserve, and improve the osteopathic medical education program of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine.
2. Consistent with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recommendations to expand medical school enrollments in a cost-effective manner to support the health care needs of Texans, the UNTHSC will consider developing an MD degree in parallel to the DO degree with maximum practicable use of existing and planned facilities; faculty, staff, and other infrastructure, currently authorized student enrollment growth, and the Five Year Strategic Plan.  This will allow such an initiative to be developed, as much as possible, within existing resource and facility projections, not as a major expansion or in the manner of new startup schools in other environments.
3. There are many perspectives that must be considered in developing a new degree program; the UNTHSC will measure the value of adding an MD degree from the perspective of the institution, students, and faculty of the HSC itself and also the larger Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and Texas communities of patients, healthcare providers, employers, and research sponsors.

The Study Group will produce a report including the following key elements:

1. An assessment of the benefits and liabilities of creating an MD degree from the following perspectives: a) future TCOM and other UNTHSC students; b) the UNTHSC vision of becoming a top 10 health science center and reaching the stated mission of excellence in education, research, clinical care, and community engagement, as well as becoming a national leader in primary care; and c) supporting the healthcare needs of Tarrant County and the State of Texas.
2. An assessment of the benefits and liabilities of different methods of adding an MD degree accredited by LCME while continuing a successful COCA accredited DO degree program (i.e., Joint MD/DO degree for all students, different MD and DO degree cohorts that share all appropriate classes, faculty and infrastructure, and other options).
3. An assessment of the current infrastructure and processes of TCOM and the UNTHSC with an identification of any programmatic or other issues that would need to be addressed to support an LCME accredited MD degree program.

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This page last updated: 01/09/2009 03:42:06 PM