University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Type Public
Established 1943
Endowment $1.01 billion (April 2017) [1]
President Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D.
Dean J. Gregory Fitz, M.D.
Academic staff
3691 (1,394 full-time, 402 part-time, 1,755 voluntary, 110 faculty associates, and 30 administrators)
Administrative staff
7103
Postgraduates 3255
Location Dallas, Texas, US
32°48′45″N 96°50′18″W / 32.8126058°N 96.8384102°W / 32.8126058; -96.8384102Coordinates: 32°48′45″N 96°50′18″W / 32.8126058°N 96.8384102°W / 32.8126058; -96.8384102
Campus Urban, 231 acres (0.9 km2)
Website www.utsouthwestern.edu

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern) is a medical education and biomedical research institution in the United States. It is located in the Southwestern Medical District, a 1,000 plus-acre campus in Dallas that incorporates three degree-granting institutions – UT Southwestern Medical School, UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UT Southwestern School of Health Professions – along with four affiliated hospitals: Parkland Hospital, Children’s Health℠, Zale Lipshy University Hospital, and William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.

One of the largest medical schools in the country, UT Southwestern annually trains about 3,700 medical, graduate, and health-professions students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows each year. Ongoing support from federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, along with foundations, individuals, and corporations, provides approximately $422.6 million per year to fund more than 5,700 research projects.

UT Southwestern faculty physicians provide patient care at UT Southwestern University Hospitals & Clinics, Parkland Health & Hospital System, Children’s Medical Center, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, VA North Texas Health Care System, and other affiliated hospitals and community clinics. Faculty and residents care for more than 100,000 hospitalized patients and oversee approximately 2.2 million outpatient visits a year, providing more than $106.7 million in unreimbursed clinical services annually.

In the spring of 2016, UT Southwestern began providing additional care through a new, clinically integrated health care network called Southwestern Health Resources, which blends the systems of Texas Health Resources and UT Southwestern to provide increased access to primary and specialized care to North Texas residents, from preventive measures to advanced interventions. The network comprises 27 hospitals, 300 clinics, and more than 2,000 physicians, spanning a 16-county service area with more than 6 million residents.

UT Southwestern is one of approximately 60 academic health centers nationwide that are members of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program, a national consortium of medical research institutions funded through the National Institutes of Health’s national Center for Research Resources. CTSAs encourage collaboration across scientific disciplines, train clinical and translational researchers, and drive innovative approaches to research challenges.

With approximately 14,400 employees and an operating budget of nearly $2.5 billion, UT Southwestern is one of six medical schools in the UT System. Its three-part mission is to: educate the next generation of leaders in patient care, biomedical science, and disease prevention; conduct high-impact research; and deliver patient care that brings UTSW’s scientific advances to the bedside – focusing on quality, safety, and service.

History

Establishment

Southwestern Medical College as it appeared at its founding in the 1940s. Animal facilities are seen in the lower right.

Under the leadership of Dr. Edward H. Cary and Karl Hoblitzelle, a group of prominent Dallas citizens organized Southwestern Medical Foundation in 1939 to promote medical education and research in Dallas and the region. When Baylor University elected to move its school of medicine from Dallas to Houston in 1943, the foundation formally established Southwestern Medical College as the 68th medical school in the United States. Founded during World War II, the medical school was initially housed in a handful of abandoned barracks.

Affiliation with University of Texas

When a new state medical school was proposed after World War II, leaders of Southwestern Medical Foundation offered the college's equipment, library, and certain restricted funds to the University of Texas System, provided the university would locate its new medical branch in Dallas. The Board of Regents accepted this offer from the foundation, and in 1949 the college became Southwestern Medical School of The University of Texas. In 1954 the name was changed to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. The present campus site on Harry Hines Boulevard was occupied in 1955 upon the completion of the Edward H. Cary Building. This placed the medical school faculty next to the then-newly built Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Reorganization

In November 1972 the name and scope of the medical school were changed with its reorganization into The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas. In approving the concept of a health science center, the Board of Regents provided for the continued growth of coordinated but separate medical, graduate, and undergraduate components, interacting creatively on the problems of human health and well-being.

Addition of Howard Hughes Medical Institute

In 1986 the Howard Hughes Medical Institute opened a research facility on the campus. Concentrating on molecular biology, it has brought outstanding scientists to head laboratories in their specialties. These Investigators also hold faculty positions in the basic science departments of the Medical School and Graduate School. Counted among the nation’s largest philanthropies, HHMI has provided almost $8 billion in direct support over the past decade alone for research and science education for the country’s most creative and promising scientists.

In October 1987 the UT System Board of Regents approved changing the name of the health science center to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, reconfirming its original Southwestern identity. The Medical Center encompasses three degree-granting institutions: UT Southwestern Medical School, UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and UT Southwestern School of Health Professions.

Physical expansion

Since the late 1960s the university has added more than 6 million square feet of new construction. The 60-acre South Campus includes 20 buildings housing classrooms, laboratories, offices, the extensive University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Library, an auditorium, and a large outpatient center. Affiliated hospitals adjacent to the campus are Zale Lipshy University Hospital, Parkland Memorial Hospital, William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, and Children's Medical Center (Dallas).

In 1987 the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation gave the university 30 acres (120,000 m2) near the South Campus for future expansion. A 20-year master plan for the site, called North Campus, calls for six research towers, a support-services building, an energy plant, and underground parking, in addition to the Mary Nell and Ralph B. Rogers Magnetic Resonance Center and the Moncrief Radiation Oncology Center. Three research towers and an elevated campus connector, linking the South Campus with the North Campus, were completed in the 1990s. A fourth 14-story research tower was completed in 2005, followed by a 12-story research tower in 2011. In 1999 the university purchased an additional 50 acres from the MacArthur Foundation, and a portion of the property was used to create an on-campus student-housing complex of 156 apartments. A second phase of 126 units opened in the summer of 2004. In 2008, the university purchased the 24-acre Exchange Park adjacent to the North Campus.

In 2008, UT Southwestern opened the BioCenter at Southwestern Medical District, a multitenant facility meant to help commercialize university technologies and attract biotech companies to the area. Next door to the BioCenter, UTSW will in 2017 open its Radiation Oncology center, a $66 million facility with three floors, 63,000 square feet of space, seven patient treatment rooms, and technology for targeting tumors with radiation therapy.

Clinical services

The clinical services are expanding as annual patient visits to the Medical Center’s clinics average 400,000 a year, up from 50,000 annually 15 years ago. UT Southwestern includes affiliated patient care facilities such as the UT Southwestern University Hospitals, and the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center. There, physicians treat every cancer, from breast, urologic, gynecologic, lung, gastrointestinal, head and neck, brain, and skin to lymphomas, leukemia, and bone marrow transplantation.

UT Southwestern also is an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center, the highest level of certification for stroke care. UT Southwestern’s Robert D. Rogers Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center is the only Joint Commission-certified Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center in North Texas; it is one of only three such centers in Texas and also is certified by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

Clinicians and researchers work together to treat and to find the root causes of Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, epilepsy, and peripheral nerve injuries. The Medical Center also is home to an NIH Alzheimer’s Disease Center and is a Network of Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials Center.

The Doris and Harry W. Bass Jr. Clinical Center for heart, Lung, and Vascular Disease is a collaborative effort between UT Southwestern faculty and community physicians. It provides care for adult congenital heart disease patients, as well as cardiac imaging, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, electrophysiology, general cardiology, heart failure care, heart and lung transplant, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, lung transplant pulmonology, mechanical circulatory assistance, preventive cardiology, pulmonary hypertension care, and vascular and endovascular surgery.

UT Southwestern’s transplantation programs for heart, lung, kidney, and liver have been certified by the federal government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This certification ensures broad access to the full range of related fields, including surgery, infection control, immunity, and rejection. Surgeons from UT Southwestern performed North Texas’ first kidney transplant in 1964 and are responsible for many innovations that have become the accepted practice throughout the nation.

Academics

UT Southwestern is governed by the UT Board of Regents. The Medical Center includes three degree-granting institutions/schools: UT Southwestern Medical School, UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and UT Southwestern School of Health Professions. Throughout its history, UT Southwestern has graduated approximately 20,000 physicians and other professionals in all areas of medicine. In 2016 alone, UTSW faculty is training about 3,700 medical, graduate, and health professions students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows.

UT Southwestern Medical School

UT Southwestern admits approximately 230 students each year. The average MCAT score is 34, and undergraduate GPA in 2014 was 3.88. The acceptance rate for 2014 was 5.6%.

UTSW is one of the five least-expensive public medical schools and among the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. The school's tuition and fees are approximately $20,000 per year for in-state residents, being subsidized by the state. Admission is competitive and, by mandate of the state legislature, 90 percent of applicants admitted are from the state of Texas, in order to ensure the state a consistent source of high-quality physicians. Many out-of-state students earn competitive scholarships that make up the difference.

The Medical School’s curriculum emphasizes clinical experience and electives from the first year on. The curriculum comprises three distinct periods – Pre-Clerkship, Clerkship, and Post-Clerkship – and focuses on providing a foundation in biomedical sciences, training in clinical care, and opportunities for research.

The Medical School features six Academic Colleges that function as small learning communities, each headed by a faculty mentor. Small groups of students meet with their mentors to discuss important areas such as ethics, case-based learning, and medical professionalism, and they have the opportunity to observe their mentors in action and mirror the clinical skills, behaviors, and attitudes of experienced physicians.

Many students use their free time to participate in a variety of community service activities, such as United to Serve, which is an annual health and fun fair hosted by UT Southwestern for the surrounding community, and the weekly Monday Clinic (one of six clinics), which is organized by student volunteers and staffed by UT Southwestern physicians, providing free medical care to underserved Dallas communities. Other service opportunities include participating at Camp Sweeney, a summer camp in North Texas for children with diabetes.

Along with the M.D. degree, UT Southwestern offers options for students to pursue combined degrees and to earn special graduation distinctions. The combined degrees include:

· M.D./Ph.D. – Called the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), this is one of fewer than 50 M.D./Ph.D.-granting programs nationwide that receive financial support from the National Institutes of Health. It combines dissertation work in an area of biomedical science, leading to the Ph.D., along with clinical studies, leading to the M.D.

· M.D./M.B.A. – This five-year program in conjunction with UT Dallas focuses on giving future physicians the skill sets for successfully integrating medicine and business.

· M.D./M.P.H. – UT Southwestern and UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston offer students interested in medicine and public health an opportunity to be awarded a degree in each field at the end of their four-year M.D. program.

· M.D./M.S. in Clinical Science – This program combines rigorous didactic training with a mentored clinical research project. The program concludes with submission and defense of a master’s thesis.

Students who choose to do so can graduate with an M.D. with Distinction in multiple areas, including basic research, clinical and translational research, community health, global health, medical education, biomedical innovations, and quality improvement.

UT Southwestern is ranked 25th in Research and 8th in Primary Care according to the 2017 U.S. News & World Report Medical School rankings. It is one of 23 medical institutions to be within the top 25 for both research and primary care rankings.

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

According to the 2015 U.S. News & World Report containing the latest ranking for graduate schools of life sciences as of 2014, UT Southwestern is ranked 19th in the nation in Biological Sciences and 41st in Chemistry.[7]

Specialties

1. 11th in Biochemistry/Biophysics/Structural Biology

2. 10th in Cell Biology

3. 9th in Immunology/Infectious Disease

4. 10th in Molecular Biology

The 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities placed UTSW 9th in the world for Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy and 16th for Life and Agriculture Sciences.[2][3]

Other ranking methodologies that aim to quantify the impact of publications rank UTSW among the top five biomedical research institutions in the nation.

With an enrollment of more than 1,000 students (467 predoctoral and 564 postdoctoral), the Graduate School educates biomedical scientists, engineers, clinical researchers, and counselors. Programs lead to Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science degrees and, in some cases, non-degree certificates.

Future scientists are trained to investigate basic life processes from the molecule to the whole animal. The Graduate School has 12 Ph.D. programs: Biological Chemistry; Biomedical Engineering; Cancer Biology; Cell and Molecular Biology; Clinical Psychology; Genetics, Development, and Disease; Immunology; Integrative Biology; Molecular Biophysics; Molecular Microbiology; Neuroscience; and Organic Chemistry.

In addition, a master's degree and a certificate are offered in Clinical Science. Postdoctoral certificates are offered in Research, Advanced Research, Cancer, Educational Techniques, Obesity and Metabolism, and Scientific Management.

M.D./Ph.D. Program

UT Southwestern runs a competitive Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) that offers a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree. It is one of fewer than 50 M.D./Ph.D.-granting programs nationwide that receive financial support from the National Institutes of Health. The largest source of private support for UTSW's program has been from H. Ross Perot.[10] Dr. Michael Brown, Nobel laureate, is involved with the administration of UTSW’s program and attends the weekly "Works-in-Progress" talks given by research faculty.

The clinical training curriculum includes coursework in the elemental disciplines necessary to understand human disease at the level of cellular physiology and biochemistry. In addition, students practice and hone clinical skills at UT Southwestern’s affiliated clinical training hospitals, including Parkland Memorial Hospital and William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.

Following summer laboratory rotations, MSTP students choose from one of 10 interdepartmental graduate programs and select a dissertation mentor from among any member of the UT Southwestern Graduate School faculty for training in intellectual and experimental strategies. During these years, the MSTP student functions as a graduate student in his or her laboratory while maintaining an awareness of clinical medicine through program activities.

Dissertation research culminates in results that significantly advance the state of biomedical knowledge.

School of Health Professions

About 340 students are enrolled in UT Southwestern’s School of Health Professions. The school confers a doctoral professional degree in Physical Therapy and master's degrees in Clinical Nutrition, Physician Assistant Studies, Prosthetics-Orthotics, and Rehabilitation Counseling. The school also has a baccalaureate certificate program in Radiation Therapy.

The Physician Assistant program was founded in 1972. For the past five years, graduates have had a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the national certifying exam. Much of the training occurs at Parkland Memorial Hospital.[11]

Library

The Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center supports the information needs of UT Southwestern's research, educational, and clinical activities. The Library and Learning Center maintains a large collection of electronic information resources, print archives, rare books, and materials concerning the history of medicine. It also offers assistance and training in using these resources. The library also has a small branch library on the North Campus.[12]

Research

UT Southwestern scientists and physician researchers actively conduct investigations into cancer, neuroscience, heart disease and stroke, arthritis, diabetes, and many other fields.

At the new Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute on campus, investigators are working to better understand the basic molecular workings of the brain and applying these discoveries to the prevention and treatment of the full range of brain diseases and injuries. The Institute’s scientists and clinicians cover neurodegenerative diseases; depression and psychiatric disorders; migraines; and spine, nerve, and muscle diseases. Also at the Institute are voice specialists, rehabilitation experts, and neuroimmunologists, plus numerous basic and translational scientists in cellular and molecular neuroscience, neurobiology, regenerative medicine, neuro-engineering, imaging, and genetics. [Source: Southwestern Medicine 2015 Annual Review]

Researchers at UTSW’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center – the only cancer center in North Texas to attain the National Cancer Institute’s comprehensive designation – are focusing on discovering drug-like chemicals that can impact processes that drive or inhibit cancer growth and deciphering mechanisms in cell regulatory networks that go awry and contribute to cancer initiation and growth. Cancer Center researchers in developmental biology, cancer biology, and stem cell biology are meanwhile shedding light on how developmental processes contribute to cancer’s progress.

UT Southwestern established the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine in 2014 to advance human health through discoveries of the fundamental mechanisms of tissue formation and repair and to develop transformative strategies and medications to enhance tissue regeneration.

Research at UTSW’s Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair focuses on various types of brain injuries and conditions, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. The Institute also promotes brain injury education and prevention. The Texas Legislature provided $15 million for the current biennium – the largest allocation for a brain injury initiative in state history.

Other research currently underway at UT Southwestern includes studies on:

Notable faculty

Six UT Southwestern faculty members have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985.

Two current recipients of the Albert D. Lasker Award in Basic Medical Research

Twenty-three current members of the National Academy of Sciences[4]

  • 1980 Michael Brown, M.D.
  • 1980 Joseph Goldstein, M.D.
  • 1983 Jean D. Wilson, M.D.
  • 1984 Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D.
  • 1985 Alfred Gilman, M.D., Ph.D. (deceased)
  • 1986 Roger H. Unger, M.D.
  • 1992 Steven L. McKnight, Ph.D.
  • 1994 Ellen S. Vitetta, Ph.D.
  • 1997 Johann Deisenhofer, Ph.D.
  • 2000 Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.
  • 2003 Masashi Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D.
  • 2003 Joseph S. Takahashi]Ph.D.
  • 2006 Melanie H. Cobb, Ph.D.
  • 2006 David W. Russell, Ph.D.
  • 2007 Helen Hobbs, M.D.
  • 2008 David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D.
  • 2008 Bruce Beutler, M.D.
  • 2011 Luis F. Parada, Ph.D.
  • 2013 Beth Levine, M.D.
  • 2014 Zhijian “James” Chen, Ph.D.

Eighteen current members of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine[4])

  • 1974 Donald W. Seldin, M.D.
  • 1975 Ronald Estabrook, Ph.D.
  • 1987 Michael Brown, M.D.
  • 1987 Joseph Goldstein, M.D.
  • 1989 Daniel W. Foster, M.D.
  • 1989 Alfred Gilman, M.D., Ph.D.
  • 1994 Jean D. Wilson, M.D.
  • 1995 Scott M. Grundy, M.D., Ph.D.
  • 1998 Carol A. Tamminga, M.D.
  • 1999 Kern Wildenthal, M.D., Ph.D.
  • 2001 Norman F. Gant, M.D.
  • 2001 Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.
  • 2004 Helen Hobbs, M.D.
  • 2005 Steven L. McKnight, Ph.D.
  • 2006 Ellen S. Vitetta, Ph.D.
  • 2007 Luis F. Parada, Ph.D.
  • 2008 Bruce Beutler, M.D.
  • 2009 Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D.
  • 2014 Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D.

Sixteen members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[4]

  • 1974 Donald W. Seldin, M.D.
  • 1981 Michael Brown, M.D.
  • 1981 Joseph Goldstein, M.D.
  • 1982 Jean D. Wilson, M.D.
  • 1987 Samuel M. McCann, M.D. (deceased)
  • 1988 Alfred Gilman, M.D., Ph.D. (deceased)
  • 1992 Daniel W. Foster, M.D.
  • 1992 David Garbers, Ph.D. (deceased)
  • 1992 Steven L. McKnight, Ph.D.
  • 1993 Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D.
  • 1994 Roger H. Unger, M.D.
  • 1998 Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.
  • 2000 Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D.
  • 2003 Ellen S. Vitetta, Ph.D.
  • 2006 Helen Hobbs, M.D.
  • 2007 Luis F. Parada, Ph.D.
  • 2011 David Russell, Ph.D.
  • 2013 Bruce Beutler, M.D.
  • 2015 Sandra L. Schmid, Ph.D.

Thirteen current members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute[5]

UTSW's clinical faculty includes 58 specialists listed in" Best Doctors in America" and 230 included in "Best Doctors in America: Central Region".[2]

Notable alumni

Affiliated health care institutions

Major affiliations:

Minor affiliations:

References

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