New UT Tyler School of Medicine anticipates preliminary approval in June

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - The first medical school in East Texas is hoping to open admissions this summer, with the first class expected to start in the summer of 2023.

“We’re doing a million things, but it’s all exciting,” said Brigham Willis, Founding Dean of the UT Tyler School of Medicine.

Willis is hoping for enrollment of students by July of 2023. The school will open without a new building but will make use of available space at the UT Health North Campus on Hwy 271.

“We have a beautiful building, the School for Community and Rural Health, where we’ll be doing most of the classroom instruction, student services, and faculty offices. And then in this building, which is the hospital building, we will have the simulation center, clinical skills training, and anatomy lab, as well as a number of faculty offices,” Willis said.

The school will eventually operate out of its own building in Tyler’s hospital district. Willis said agreements have been signed and the medical school now owns land to the south of the main UT Health East Texas hospital.

“I was just in a design meeting with the architects,” Willis said Wednesday afternoon, “So we’re in the design phases of that building and the plan is for the whole building to be complete in two to three years.”

When it comes to the type of student the school is looking to enroll, Willis said they want East Texans who intend to stay and practice in East Texas.

“We are designing our admissions process to focus predominantly on students from East Texas because the mission, the whole existence of the school, is to create physicians to serve in East Texas. We think the best way to do that is to get students from East Texas,” Willis said. “There’s an incredible need for health care professionals, not just physicians, but health care professionals to address the poor health outcomes of the region.”

Willis believes some recent major financial contributions will help attract applicants, like the Fair Foundation’s gift of $4 million to cover the full cost of tuition for the school’s first class.

“The opportunity to come here and be part of a medical school with an incredible purpose and mission from ground zero is an incredibly exciting opportunity,” he said.

Students interested in applying will do so on the Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Services (TMDSAS) website.

The TMDSAS online application becomes available Monday, May 2, 2022, at 8:00 a.m. (CST), and submissions open Monday, May 16, 2022, at 8:00 a.m. (CST). The deadline to submit applications is 5:00 p.m. (CST) Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

The Tyler medical school will not be listed on the TMDSAS website until preliminary approval is received from LCME (expected in June 2022).

RELATED STORIES:

+ Tyler medical school could open by summer 2023

+ R.W. Fair Foundation provides $4 million to cover tuition for UT Tyler Medical School inaugural class

+ Texas Legislature approves new UT medical school in Tyler

+ University of Texas System seeking approval for a medical school in Tyler

+ WEBXTRA: University of Texas System to seek approval for medical school in Tyler

+ UT Tyler and UT Health Science Center merger to benefit students, community

+ Integration of UT Tyler, UT Health Science Center to include 200 new graduate medical slots

Copyright 2022 KLTV. All rights reserved.