But -- and this is critically important, not just in Houston, but nationally -- the state/university you complete Med School has almost nothing to do with where you will practice.

Much more important to that point, is residency.


In other words: if you want more primary care doctors in Houston, then Houston/Harris County/State of Texas/etc needs to invest in more residency positions in the metro area clinics.

(03-07-2017 04:36 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  We already have two medical schools in the city. We need that less than we needed UT-Houston.

Well it seems like more than that?

Because the U of Texas Med School is in Galveston, which is Houston metro, and the TMC is huge and I think contains more than one med school?

(03-07-2017 05:48 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 04:36 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  We already have two medical schools in the city. We need that less than we needed UT-Houston.

Well it seems like more than that?

Because the U of Texas Med School is in Galveston, which is Houston metro, and the TMC is huge and I think contains more than one med school?

I wasn't counting Galveston. The med center has a UT med school and Baylor College of Medicine. And the Aggies just built one up the road in Bryan. So at least four within 90 minutes of downtown.


But apparently the logic is: UH builds something we already have, good; UT builds something we already have, bad.

Correct ! Dude your pretty smart, did you go to rice or something?

(03-07-2017 06:35 PM)JHS55 Wrote:  Correct ! Dude your pretty smart, did you go to rice or something?

Nah, I'm just a t-shirt fan. Saw the Owl logo at WalMart and had to buy it.

(03-07-2017 04:39 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 04:36 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  We already have two medical schools in the city. We need that less than we needed UT-Houston.

And yet we suffer from a critical shortage of primary care physicians. And it will only get worse as Houston's population doubles in the next 35 years.

So using the logic in this thread about UT-H, we ought to just expand the current medical schools instead of building another.

(03-07-2017 08:47 PM)Insane_Baboon Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 04:39 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 04:36 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  We already have two medical schools in the city. We need that less than we needed UT-Houston.

And yet we suffer from a critical shortage of primary care physicians. And it will only get worse as Houston's population doubles in the next 35 years.

So using the logic in this thread about UT-H, we ought to just expand the current medical schools instead of building another.

Like I said, the infrastructure is already in place at UH. So is one really any cheaper than the other? I believe the UH proposal also has some sort of community outreach component that will offer healthcare to the underserved Third Ward area of Houston that surrounds UH. So, its low cost and community healthcare aspects of the UH proposal might be attractive enough to gain area political support. My guess is unlike McRaven, Renu has laid the proper groundwork with the right people in the legislature. That said, the current legislative climate of a 5 billion dollar budget short fall in Texas works against virtually any new project right now.

Well a university can't offer healthcare service unless it owns a university hospital/clinic. Otherwise, you're just partnering with someone else's hospital/clinic.

And yes, you can have a med school without having a university hospital. Like I said, you just partner with an existing hospital.


So is UH's proposal to also purchase a hospital?? That is not cheap. Nor is it cheap to run.

(03-07-2017 10:26 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  Well a university can't offer healthcare service unless it owns a university hospital/clinic. Otherwise, you're just partnering with someone else's hospital/clinic.

And yes, you can have a med school without having a university hospital. Like I said, you just partner with an existing hospital.


So is UH's proposal to also purchase a hospital?? That is not cheap. Nor is it cheap to run.

No idea what that part of the plan is.

I do not think its going to be a hospital. If I had to guess, I suspect it would be something that matched the stated "general practitioner" mission---like a small primary care clinic--which would not be all that expensive and might even be collaboratively done with a local hospital or via philanthropy. I don't see it being something like an emergency or surgical facility--but that's just a guess on my part. All I really know is the proposed medical school has been mentioned as part of the community outreach program the president has been pushing for the surrounding area.

Well in any case, I can't really think of a bad reason to start another medical school, if UH wants to spend its money to do that. Hope it goes well!

(03-07-2017 05:48 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  

(03-07-2017 04:36 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  We already have two medical schools in the city. We need that less than we needed UT-Houston.

Well it seems like more than that?

Because the U of Texas Med School is in Galveston, which is Houston metro, and the TMC is huge and I think contains more than one med school?

It contains, Baylor College of Medicine (no relation to Baylor Univ.), Prairie View A&M College of Nursing, UT - Health Sciences Center (which has a full Medical School), Houston Community College, Univ. of Houston College of Pharmacy, Texas Southern College of Pharmacy as direct degree granting facilities in the TMC,.....and

The following affiliated hospitals and public institutions have facilities in the TMC

Texas A&M, Texas Women's University, UT-Medical Branch, UT-MD Anderson.

And that's before the private schools get involved.