Original publish date: July 10, 2016
Officials at the University of Texas were in a celebratory mood last week with the final opening days of the Dell Medical School, and rightfully so.
Its been a long road for UT 135 years, to be exact.
The struggle to bring a medical school to Austin makes the implications of this weeks opening crystal clear for this community: A single policy decision can change the course of history.
In 1881, the Texas Legislature via a voter referendum decided to build an academic institution in the states capital and a medical school in Galveston. That choice had the unforeseen effect of helping stabilize the Galveston economy once its position as a commercial center was wiped out by the hurricane of 1900. Investors fled and port commerce moved to Houston, but the medical school remained.
In Austin, that same decision left the capital city without the health and economic benefits that accrue to a city conducting medical research and training its own doctors. In 2016, Central Texans still travel to Galveston for state-of-the-art treatments that cannot be obtained anywhere else in the state.
With the first 50 students finishing their first week on the Forty Acres at Dell Medical School, it remains to be seen whether the political decisions that reversed that 135 years of history will pay off for the state of Texas and the residents of Travis County who voted to help foot the bill for the medical schools creation.
Austins aspirations for a comprehensive medical school have been in the works for decades. However, political will and economic realities never seemed to align political interest would always wane when the economy would inevitably sputter.
But in the late 2000s, Sen. Kirk Watson began pushing, first for more medical residencies and then later a full-throttle partnership between the university, Seton Healthcare Family and Central Health. In 2011, Watson laid out a complex but workable plan that would replace the aging city-owned hospital with one more suitable for full-scale medical education, modernize the existing clinic system and ensure the university of a continual flow of money to support the care of Travis County residents and develop the program.
At the time he said: Weve got to resist the temptation to keep waiting, watching and wishing. Weve got to throw out the past and reject the old excuses. We must not tell ourselves that somehow, sometime, some better deal will come along. It wont. This is the moment. This is our chance.
Rather than pursue full funding from the Legislature, Watson helped rally the call for a Travis County ballot initiative. If voters approved a tax increase, he argued, the region would add another economic driver and benefit from the research and clinical studies that stemmed from the work of the schools students and faculty.
WE SAID: Medical school in Austin a win-win proposition
So, in fall 2012, Travis County voters did their part, approving the measure, which added 5 cents to every property owners tax rate. And so, now begins the wait to see if that calculated risk will pay off.
The stakes are high. UT officials say the new medical school will develop a brand-new health care system to replace the current model that includes high costs, unpredictable outcomes and vast racial and economic disparities. On the surface, the face of this inaugural class is promising. According to Dell Medical School officials, 22 percent of the class identifies as an underrepresented minority (African-American, Hispanic or Native American), beating the national average of 13 percent. At the same time, the average MCAT score was in the 88th percentile; nationally the average is 83 percent, according to the American Medical Association.
That Dell Medical School has come this far is in no small part due to community goodwill goodwill toward the university, goodwill toward former Austin mayor and now senator Watson, goodwill toward the idea of a better medical future for rich and poor alike. Watson is absolutely correct that if this community had waited on the Legislature to fully fund the medical school, chances are high that Austin would still be waiting rather than welcoming its first class of future doctors.
But the gamble has come with critics as the city has continued to struggle with affordability and other governmental entities vie for property tax revenue to fund their own projects. Every group, whether it is Austin public schools, Austin Community College, Travis County or the city of Austin, has its own needs and a diminishing public appetite to pay for them with property taxes.
OTHERS SAID: Central Health needs a shot of accountability
Talking about the need of investment is easier than waiting for it to pay off. It will be four years before this class will graduate and start its residential training, which hopefully will lead to medical practices in Austin or in underserved Texas communities. It takes years, sometimes decades, to measure outcomes and develop a track record for success that builds a reputation like that at UT Medical Branch.
UTMB started with 23 students. Today it has more than 3,700. Austin had to start somewhere. We agree with Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, who said, Were going to have to be really vigilant and honest about this partnership to assure the economic benefit works hand in glove with the improvement of health outcomes all the way down the economic ladder.
The 5 cents voters approved in 2012 is now actually 4.6 cents, according to Central Health officials. Last year, that amount raised $61.8 million, $35 million of which goes directly to the medical school. The rest is being used to leverage federal grants for health care programs in the county, according to Ted Burton, spokesman for Central Health.
Its important for all the partners UT, Central Health and Seton to keep the community up to date on their progress, while Travis County residents wait for our investment to start paying off. Its the only way to ensure there will continue to be goodwill for other important investments in the future.
See more here:
Welcome, Dell Medical School Travis County is counting on you - MyStatesman.com
- "Shift Happens" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Getting Started With Your Personal Statement - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- I started this blog 1 year ago. I'm ready to become a medical doctor. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Poll Results: "What is your GPA?" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Why Ross University School of Medicine? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Why Ross University? (Continued) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Filling out applications with the last 4 years in mind. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "Active and Passive Euthanasia" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 300 Word Personal Statement - First Draft - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 300 Word Personal Statement - 2nd Draft - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "Where did you do EMT training at?" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "is this jonathan that went to brazil in the summer of 2006?" - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- First Application is Away - Ross University - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- AMCAS—The American Medical College Application Service - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Student Doctor Network - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Crime Incident - Public Safety Announcement: STUDENTS - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- AMCAS Deadlines & Delays - Answered - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Headstart on Secondary Applications - The Student Doctor Network - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Complete Medical School & Admissions Guide - Revisited - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Interview Status - Ross University - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Finished my first interview. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "You have a 95% chance of acceptance..." - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "I was just wondering if I have to go to medical school i will have to start college allover again." - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Interview Feedback - Allopathic Medical Schools - Ross University School of Medicine (Dominica Caribbean) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- ACCEPTED! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Step 1 Revisited - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A Few More Thoughts On Moving - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Update - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Closing In - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Internet/Computer Hell - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Back On The Net - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 1 More Day - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Loan Deferment Blog - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Graduated! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What Happened? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Interesting Case - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What Made Me Stupid? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Blah. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Call - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Medicine in the Media - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Was Medical School Worth It? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Off I Go... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is It Worth It, Part 2 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Oriented - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- GLBT in Medical School - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- GLBT in Residency Applications - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- I Survived - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Reflections on the First Week - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- All Good Things Must End - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Lone Coyote is Back - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Pre-med student switches gears to teach in Chicago school - Chicago Tribune - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Old-school barbecue coming to spot near Fort Worth medical district - Fort Worth Star Telegram - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Nursing home drug use puts many at risk - Boston Globe - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Dr. Anita Figueredo, first female surgeon in San Diego, dies at 93 - Los Angeles Times - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Stimulus funds pay for monkey research in NC - MiamiHerald.com - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Medicine as an economic engine - Buffalo News - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- UM medical school feels the squeeze - MiamiHerald.com - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL ADVISER Bell's palsy not as serious as it appears - Detroit Free Press - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Baylor medical school works to get back on track - Houston Chronicle - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- From community college to Amherst College and Yale Medical School - WalletPop (blog) - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- Man questions merit of coke monkey study - UPI.com - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- School Board has questions it wants answered about onsite medical clinic - Terre Haute Tribune Star - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Stimulus Funds Pay for Monkey Research - NewsMax.com - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Babylon schools head: Teen's collapse unrelated to athletics - Newsday (subscription) - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Cost Of Medical School Rises In Recession - NPR - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Flu Shots in Children Help People of All Ages - New York Times - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- A prescription for improving science education - Scope (blog) - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- Live kidney donors do not die sooner: study - Reuters - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- UW football player suspended after alleged assault - Seattle Post Intelligencer - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- More Comparative Studies Needed to Guide Physicians Study finds less than a ... - ModernMedicine - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Conservationists worry about Mo. med school plan - KOAM-TV - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Dr. William D. Lynn - Baltimore Sun - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Suspect in North Dallas shootings became reclusive after parents died, family says - Dallas Morning News - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Drinkers Gain Less Weight - Harvard Crimson - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Long-Term Health Risks Low for Kidney Donors - WebMD - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- School resource officer remains in critical condition - Middletown Journal - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- New Lucian Leape Institute Report Finds That U.S. Medical Schools Are Falling ... - PR Newswire (press release) - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Dual degrees program expands for Mayo Medical School students - Post-Bulletin - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Comparative Effectiveness Research is a Must - TopNews United States - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Long Beach OKs medical pot ordinance - Contra Costa Times - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]