Educating future generations at full speed
The debut of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health in early 2023 – UT Southwestern’s fourth school and its first new school in a half-century – ramped up efforts by educational leadership to ensure that health care providers of tomorrow are equipped to be the best in their fields.
The school currently offers an M.P.H. and a dual M.D./M.P.H. and will add a Ph.D. program in 2024. It is led by Founding Dean Saad B. Omer, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., who has ambitious plans to transform the public health space.
In response to clinical demand trends, the School of Health Professions plans to add a Master of Science in Genetic Counseling in 2024, which will be the first such program in North Texas.
The year also brought milestone anniversaries, including a five-year celebration for the Simulation Center and 50 years for the Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program, one of the oldest and most successful programs in the School of Health Professions.
National recognitions reinforced the University’s excellence in teaching: UTSW once again was awarded a grant for the Amgen Scholars Program to enable undergraduate students to participate in summer research programs, while U.S. News & World Report ranked UT Southwestern Medical School among the top 26 Best Graduate Schools, along with nationally rated programs in the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Health Professions.
Teaching tomorrow’s public health leaders and providers
The first students in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health made history as they began their studies this year, including those in the initial M.D./M.P.H. class. International policy adviser and epidemiologist Saad B. Omer, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., was selected as the inaugural Dean of the school earlier in 2023. He describes his mission to prepare health care professionals for the future in three words: excellence for impact.
Simulation Center achieves five years of outstanding innovation
Among the largest and most advanced in the world, the Sim Center has held nearly 6,000 simulated events and logged more than 113,000 learner encounters since its 2018 opening. The Center continues to embrace new technologies, including artificial intelligence, to expand the scope and quality of its training programs for medical students, residents, health care providers, and other learners.
Celebrating a 50-year anniversary
UT Southwestern’s Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program, part of the School of Health Professions, achieved a half-century this year as one of the longest-running and most successful programs of the school.
Advancing educational initiatives
Two UT Southwestern postdoctoral fellows are among 25 early-career scientists in the U.S. selected as 2023 Hanna H. Gray Fellows. The fellowship program, run by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), aims to increase diversity in the biomedical sciences by recruiting and retaining individuals from underrepresented groups in the life sciences and disadvantaged backgrounds.
The School of Health Professions is now accepting applications for its new Master of Science in Genetic Counseling that will debut in 2024. The need for more specialized counselors in this area is growing, according to school officials.
More Info Master of Science in Genetic Counseling program to launch
For the second time, UT Southwestern has been awarded a competitive grant to participate in the prestigious Amgen Scholars program. UTSW is one of 25 host institutions worldwide supporting undergraduate scholars in full-time, residential summer research programs providing opportunities to work alongside faculty members and postdocs. The new two-year grant is for 2024-2025.
U.S. News & World Report ranks UT Southwestern Medical School nationally among the top 26 Best Graduate Schools, along with nationally rated programs in the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Biological Sciences, No. 25) and the School of Health Professions (Physician Assistant Studies Program, No. 14). In addition, Forbes and Statista recognized UT Southwestern among America’s Best Employers for new grads.
UTSW students give back to soothe the pain of pediatric burns
A Medical School graduate led a project to paint a mural at the Parkland Burn Center, with other UT Southwestern and community volunteers, for children undergoing burn treatments. The pediatric patients, treated by UTSW doctors, are now comforted through the efforts of this art project that involves a sea mural on the walls and ceiling of a wound care room.
