Educating in a post-pandemic world
With the pandemic slowly subsiding in 2022, educational activities at UT Southwestern returned to the days when learners interacted in person for the most part – resuming a sense of community many had missed.
Milestone events such as Match Day and commencements for UT Southwestern Medical School, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Health Professions were live once again, with virtual viewing options available.
Raising the bar even higher to give learners the best education possible, UT Southwestern launched a Postbaccalaureate to PhD Program to enable recent college graduates to get firsthand experience in a lab setting. Established summer programs thrived, exposing current undergrads to similar research opportunities.
Accolades firmly established the University’s excellence in teaching: UTSW became the first academic medical center in the nation to be named an American Chemical Society Bridge Program Site and earned high rankings for the quality of its research and primary care among medical schools and as a top-producing institution for Fulbright scholarships.
On the horizon: UT Southwestern’s new Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, which launches with its first class in late 2023, will arm the next generation of medical professionals with the tools to tackle important public health topics.
Educating future generations to advance public health
The Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, which will launch in late 2023, is the fourth school from UT Southwestern, and the first in the past half-century. This ambitious effort will enable the University to train health care professionals to address important public health issues.
Advancing educational initiatives
Recent college graduates who want to pursue biomedical research but need additional training can find exactly that through the Postbaccalaureate to PhD (PB2PHD) Program that launched in June. UT Southwestern’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences created a program that helps learners who want to strengthen their skills and increase their competitiveness for admission to graduate school or an M.D./Ph.D. program.
UT Southwestern became the first academic medical center in the nation in 2022 to be named an American Chemical Society Bridge Program Site. That means UT Southwestern will receive funding, mentoring, and other support services to enable students from underrepresented minority groups to complete doctorates in chemistry. Since 2018, 11 Bridge Sites have been established at academic institutions nationwide – but none at academic medical centers. UTSW is now the 12th site.
UT Southwestern Medical School is ranked among the top 25 for research and in the top 20 for primary care among 192 medical schools nationwide, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Graduate Schools rankings. The Medical School ranked 16th for primary care and 25th for research. Only six institutions in the U.S. rated above UTSW in both categories. Among biomedical specialties, UTSW ranked 25th nationally in biology.
Undergraduates from across the country received valuable laboratory experience with leading UT Southwestern scientists through biomedical research training programs over the summer. In all, 22 Amgen Scholars and 43 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows were introduced to the kinds of projects that they might one day encounter in biomedical research careers.
The unique Academic Colleges system is a beloved element of a UT Southwestern Medical School education, with a student every bit as loyal to their assigned College as a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw is to their Hogwarts House from the well-known Harry Potter series of books and movies. The program provides camaraderie, mentorship, and study opportunities for medical students.
UT Southwestern is among the Top Producing Institutions of 2021-2022 Fulbright students in the U.S., and one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright students among four-year, special-focus institutions. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar and U.S. Student Programs provide grants to individuals to support academic exchanges between the United States and more than 150 countries based on academic merit and leadership potential.
Building hope through prosthetics, orthotics, and adaptive sports
School of Health Professions faculty and students collaborated with the Dallas-Fort Worth Adaptive Sports Coalition to help amputees succeed in sports and get the best care and use of prosthetic and orthotic devices. UTSW prosthetist/orthotist Fabian Soldevilla, for one, helped coach a team in 2022 that went on to compete at the 2022 Amputee Soccer World Cup, including one player who is a UTSW patient, Kavi Pandya.
