The Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch
has a rich history as the first Department of Surgery in Texas. The
Institution and Department have been a fertile ground for developing
academic surgical leaders since the turn of the century. Educating and
training surgeons of the future continues to be the core focus of the
Department. In doing so, there is a focus on striving for scientific
excellence and novel investigation to advance the science of surgery. Currently, The Department of Surgery is ranked 1st in Texas and 17th nationally
in NIH funding among Surgery Departments highlighting the quality of
work being performed by members of the Department. The Department also
has two T32 training grants designed to provide surgical trainees with a
protected opportunity to be exposed to a research experience during
their training. Our research efforts also focus on surgical education
where the recently completed and American College of Surgeons Accredited
Sealy & Smith Laboratory for Surgical Training, Assessment &
Research (LSTAR) has allowed us to expand our academic focus on
optimizing learning experiences for surgical trainees and faculty.
The Department of Surgery is also rapidly expanding in one of the
largest and most exciting growth phases in its 125-year history. We have
added over 30 new faculty to expand programs in cardiovascular and thoracic
surgery, transplantation, pediatric surgery, minimally invasive surgical
oncology, colorectal surgery, vascular surgery, and urology. We are
continuing to recruit to augment our programs in acute care, trauma, neurosurgery, and plastic surgery. We have two new
hospital facilities for the core of our surgical practice: a state of
the art tertiary care 437-bed facility based on the island of Galveston
and a 39-bed community hospital facility located half way between
Houston and Galveston in League City. We are further expanding our footprint in the League City region as we have not only initiated construction of a five-story medical tower addition to our League City hospital but have also recently opened our fourth UTMB system hospital in the Clear Lake area. With the combination of new
faculty and facilities, we plan to perform over 11,000 cases this year. A
new partnership exists with MD Anderson Cancer Center centered around the new cancer center that they have built on our League City hospital campus. This year, US
News and World Report recognized UTMB as a top medical school, ranked 66th in research and 88th in primary care. The hospital has also ranked in the top ten for quality on the Vizient rankings of academic medical centers for the last two years. With a new footprint, we are committed
to providing state of the art clinical care and novel research
experiences that will provide fertile ground for our seven residency
programs focused on training our surgeons of the future.
I am enthusiastic about our faculty, and excited about the
institutional commitment to surgery. In addition, I am personally highly
committed to helping trainees realize their goals and achieve the
opportunities they choose in the field of surgery. We welcome your
interest in the surgical training programs at the University of Texas
Medical Branch.
Douglas S. Tyler, MD
John Woods Harris Distinguished Chair in Surgery
Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery
University of Texas Medical Branch