UTMB

The education of health care professionals is a primary mission at UTMB. This is accomplished through four schools: The School of Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences and School of Nursing. The Marine Biomedical Institute and the Institute for the Medical Humanities provide special resources for the university.

The UTMB School of Medicine is the oldest existing medical school in the state. It is a leader in scientific and humanistic medical education, and the faculty and administration are committed to continuing its historical tradition of excellence.

The school has a four-year curriculum leading to the doctor of medicine degree and offers the option of a three-year program. All students rotate through clinical services, such as internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics and psychiatry. Additional clinical instruction is given in dermatology, neurology, anesthesiology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and radiology.

The School of Medicine has an enrollment of about 800 students. Twenty-one departments, each with a full-time staff, direct the various teaching programs of the school. The faculty numbers 752 full-time members, including most graduate school faculty, plus some 917 part-time and volunteer members. The faculty is complemented by visiting lecturers from throughout the world.

In graduate medical education, UTMB has 22 residency training programs. These programs involve some 569 physicians and offer training in all areas of the practice of medicine.

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences recently celebrated 30 years of excellence in training of the biomedical sciences, from the molecular level to intact organisms.

Today, the UTMB graduate school offers master’s and doctoral level programs in nearly all phases of the medical sciences. Doctor of philosophy degrees are offered in human biological chemistry and genetics, microbiology and immunology, neurosciences, pharmacology and toxicology, cellular physiology and molecular biophysics, preventive medicine and community health, medical humanities and experimental pathology. A combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is offered in conjunction with the medical school. Also offered is a master of science in human biological chemistry and genetics, microbiology and immunology and preventive medicine and community health; the master of medical science for individuals who hold the M.D. degree; and the master of science degrees in nursing and allied health sciences. A Ph.D. program is also offered in cell biology.

The School of Allied Health Sciences was established at UTMB in 1968 and now has an enrollment of more than 560 students. The first of its kind in Texas and the southwest region of the United States, it serves the growing health needs of the people of Texas by educating and training an increasing number of students prepared to enter a variety of health professions.

The School of Nursing is the oldest school of nursing in the Southwest. It offers bachelors, master of science, and Ph.D. degrees. The master’s nursing program is offered through the UTMB Graduate School in the majors of nursing management, primary care practice, nurse midwifery and acute care nurse practitioner. Students can choose a clinical specialty, a major in teaching, or both.

The Marine Biomedical Institute (MBI) has been a component of UTMB since 1969 when it was established to take advantage of the proximity of UTMB to the Gulf of Mexico. Research and research training are the primary missions of MBI. However, the faculty members of MBI participate actively in the teaching of medical, graduate and other health profession students.

The Institute for the Medical Humanities was established in 1973, making UTMB one of the few centers in the United States to develop a program incorporating the humanities into the medical curricula. The institute offers courses in the history of medicine, literature and medicine, medical ethics, philosophy of medicine, and religion and medicine. Through its extensive research and publication programs, the institute has achieved national prominence and has served as a model for other colleges, universities and medical schools interested in beginning similar programs to teach the humanities.

UTMB ALUMNI

More than 22,000 health care professionals have received their education at UTMB since the institution's founding in 1891. Today, graduates of the four schools work throughout the state and beyond. Physician alumni, together with physicians who received graduate medical education at UTMB, give the Medical Branch the distinction of having trained nearly a fourth of the physicians now practicing in Texas.

UTMB HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

UTMB is administratively unique among UT system health science centers, in that it owns and operates its own hospitals. The UTMB Hospitals are the only state-owned general referral hospitals in Texas. This hospital complex serves not only as an essential facility for undergraduate and graduate medical students and other health professionals but also as a major resource for providing the highest possible quality of specialized medical care for the citizens of Texas. As the only state-funded multicategorical health referral center in Texas, the Medical Branch treats patients from throughout Texas and beyond. Many seek primary health care. Others are referred by physicians from distant points nationally and internationally for the specialized diagnostic and treatment resources distinctive to the large teaching and research center.

The UTMB Hospitals have a combined capacity of 808 open beds. John Sealy Hospital, with its 12-story, 364-bed tower and 23-room surgical suite, is the hub of the UTMB Hospitals’ patient-care complex of eight hospitals and 144 outpatient clinics. Other campus hospitals include:

Jennie Sealy Hospital houses The Sealy Center on Aging, various rehabilitation units, geriatric units, research laboratories, and several support services are also located here.

Mary Moody Northen Pavilion houses The Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases, which conducts extensive clinical research emphasizing clinical trials of antiviral and antiretroviral agents as well as research into the molecular biology and pathogenesis of viral infections.

The University Hospital Clinics consolidate all outpatient clinics, with the exception of pediatrics, which is handled in Children’s Hospital. The number of diagnostic and therapeutic services available on campus in many cases enables UTMB Hospitals to provide outpatients with comprehensive health care at a cost much less than inpatient service.

Children’s Hospital is a six-story patient bed tower, outpatient clinic for children, and office and pediatric research space.

The TDCJ Hospital, a cooperative effort between the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and UTMB, is the first correctional medical facility located inside a medical-teaching complex in the United States. The TDCJ Hospital is a modern, 240,000-square-foot structure connected to the UTMB complex by a bridge that adjoins the fourth floor of John Sealy Annex.

Shriners Burns Hospital is an internationally recognized hospital and research center for pediatric burn victims and is a philanthropic endeavor of the Shriners of North America. One of three such facilities nationwide, it is affiliated with UTMB and operates in conjunction with UTMB burns services. The Shriners Burns facility adjoins the John Sealy Tower by a covered bridge.

Special care areas within the hospitals are:

• The End-Stage Renal Disease Program
• The Transplant Services (Renal, Pancreas, Heart and Lung)
• The Texas State Poison Center
• The Clinical Research Center
• The UTMB Cancer Center
• The UTMB Geriatric Medicine Program
• The UTMB Burns Center
• Infant Special Care
• ECMO Regional Center (Cardiothoracic Surgery Division)
• Tertiary Care Center for Neurological Trauma
• Cardiac Services

RESEARCH

Biomedical research at UTMB delves into a broad range of promising topics and frequently has immediate application to patient care. Such work attracts more than $70.7 million in federal and private funding for research and research training annually. This is in addition to the institutional allocations for research. The diverse specialties and subspecialties of the basic and clinical sciences of the medical and graduate faculties result in wide ranging projects. Investigations include such topics as interferon use, organ transplantation, hypertension management, gastrointestinal hormones, head and spinal cord injuries, burn therapy, diabetes control, health maintenance, and environmental toxicology. In 1986, UTMB strengthened its commitment to research excellence by creating a $10 million John Sealy Memorial Endowment Fund for Biomedical Research. The permanent endowment provides Medical Branch researchers with new incentives and opportunities to further investigations in many medical disciplines. The President’s Cabinet awards $40,000 to $50,000 annual grants to faculty engaged in healing care and research.

LIBRARY RESOURCES

The Moody Medical Library on campus has a broad collection to meet the information needs of faculty, students, and staff of the Medical Branch’s academic and training programs. Considered one of the most significant medical libraries in the nation, the Moody Medical Library’s holdings include nearly 140,000 bound journals, 108,000 books, 2,782 current subscriptions to journals and 5,836 audiovisual and microform titles.