Baylor, Texas A&M Health Science Center join forces to expand medical education opportunities in Dallas area

To help address the state’s health care workforce shortage, the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Medicine and Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas (BUMC) are joining forces to establish a Clinical Training Program in Dallas.

The program will welcome its first cohort of 23 third-year students in December. The following academic year, a comparable number of new third-year students will arrive in Dallas to join the inaugural cohort as they enter their fourth year of medical school.

Through the Clinical Training Program in Dallas, students will complete their first two years of medical education at TAMHSC-College of Medicine campuses in either Bryan/College Station or Temple. During their last two years of medical school, students enrolled in the program will complete clinical rotations in surgery, internal medicine, family medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and other clinical affiliates.

The Clinical Training Program in Dallas furthers the close proximity and ties already between BUMC and the TAMHSC-Baylor College of Dentistry, combining it with medical education opportunities offered by the Baylor Health Care System. To lead the effort, Cristie Columbus, M.D., the longtime assistant director of medical education at Baylor Dallas, has been appointed TAMHSC-College of Medicine vice dean for the Dallas site.

Baylor Health Care System is a not-for-profit, faith-based supporting organization providing services to a network of acute care hospitals and related health care entities that provide patient care, medical education, research and community service. Baylor recorded more than 2.6 million patient encounters, $3.8 billion in total operating revenue, $4.4 billion in total assets and $513.5 million in community benefit in fiscal year 2010. Baylor’s network of more than 300 access points includes 27 owned/operated/ ventured/affiliated hospitals, 23 joint ventured ambulatory surgical centers, 50 satellite outpatient locations, four senior centers and 156 HealthTexas Provider Network physician clinics.

The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides the state with health education, outreach and research through campuses in Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Temple, Houston, Round Rock, Kingsville, Corpus Christi and McAllen. Its six colleges are the Baylor College of Dentistry, the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the School of Graduate Studies, the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy and the School of Rural Public Health. Other units include the Institute of Biosciences and Technology and the Coastal Bend Health Education Center.

About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com