I see in this week's Thresher that Rice is terminating, after 34 years, the Rice-Baylor College of Medicine Medical Scholars (BA/MD) program, due to "differences in opinion on how the program should evolve."

https://www.ricethresher.org/article/202...r-34-years

Does anyone here know the nature or details of the differences? And why they are serious enough to terminate the program that seemed to have great cachet for Rice?

According to one student quoted in the article:

Quote:.. the program allows students the freedom to explore and try new things without the fear associated with failing. But, in some instances, it can breed complacency as the minimum GPA and MCAT requirements for Medical Scholars are significantly below Rice’s average.

“It’s easy … to do the absolute minimum because you know you have [a medical school acceptance] in your back pocket. ... You have to be a person who is genuinely passionate about learning and about improving yourself to not let that be the case.”

Also in the article:

Quote:Baylor College of Medicine is continuing its participation in BS/MD programs with other partner institutions, such as through their Joint Admission Medical Program and other programs with St. Mary’s University and Xavier University.

...

BCM’s Manager of Communications Dipali Pathak siad BCM has valued its long-standing relationship with Rice University and is disappointed to be exiting this partnership program.

“Baylor College of Medicine has had great success recruiting excellent students from Rice University through the regular admissions portal and will redouble efforts to continue to recruit the best and brightest from the University,” Pathak said in a statement to the Thresher.

PM me...

To me, this appears to be one more reason why Rice should have followed through with plans to open its own med school when the Baylor Med acquisition fell through. Baylor Med was in a bit of turmoil, there was considerable dissension within the ranks of docs there, they were experiencing some financial strain, and they were shifting their hospital partner. Seems to me that with a well played effort, Rice Med could have picked off some outstanding faculty (kind of a reprise of what the university did to Princeton to get started), landed a hospital deal, and been off and running. But it didn't happen.

As the article notes, the program had dwindled in recent years to almost nothing… Meanwhile, Rice students continue to get accepted at Baylor Med in large numbers. Not a huge deal IMO.

I think this was major failure of Lebron. Embarrassing UH got instead of Rice.

(08-29-2022 06:53 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  To me, this appears to be one more reason why Rice should have followed through with plans to open its own med school when the Baylor Med acquisition fell through. Baylor Med was in a bit of turmoil, there was considerable dissension within the ranks of docs there, they were experiencing some financial strain, and they were shifting their hospital partner. Seems to me that with a well played effort, Rice Med could have picked off some outstanding faculty (kind of a reprise of what the university did to Princeton to get started), landed a hospital deal, and been off and running. But it didn't happen.

I think this was major failure of Lebroon. Embarrassing UH got in instead of Rice.

(08-29-2022 06:53 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  To me, this appears to be one more reason why Rice should have followed through with plans to open its own med school when the Baylor Med acquisition fell through. Baylor Med was in a bit of turmoil, there was considerable dissension within the ranks of docs there, they were experiencing some financial strain, and they were shifting their hospital partner. Seems to me that with a well played effort, Rice Med could have picked off some outstanding faculty (kind of a reprise of what the university did to Princeton to get started), landed a hospital deal, and been off and running. But it didn't happen.

(08-30-2022 10:14 AM)Texasowl Wrote:  I think this was major failure of Lebron. Embarrassing UH got instead of Rice.

(08-29-2022 06:53 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  To me, this appears to be one more reason why Rice should have followed through with plans to open its own med school when the Baylor Med acquisition fell through. Baylor Med was in a bit of turmoil, there was considerable dissension within the ranks of docs there, they were experiencing some financial strain, and they were shifting their hospital partner. Seems to me that with a well played effort, Rice Med could have picked off some outstanding faculty (kind of a reprise of what the university did to Princeton to get started), landed a hospital deal, and been off and running. But it didn't happen.

Now that Leebron is gone, you're going to have to find someone else to blame all the ills of the world on. Geez, as others have pointed out, this is not a big deal and has absolutely no impact on Rice students getting accepted into Baylor Med.

I'm sure everyone knows that a lot of consideration went into the decision to pass on the BCM opportunity. As of today, BCM has over 4,000 full time faculty...Rice has 675 or so. There were a number of factors about merging the faculty, etc. and the cost of implementing the changes that were not easy to resolve.

Leebron's position was that a top-10 medical school would help Rice from a research and reputation perspective but that a top-30 medical school wouldn't be a positive. He estimated the cost to establish a top-10 medical school to be over $700 - $800 Million. (Those are obviously his estimates). I'm convinced he wanted to make the move but felt that the risk was too great.

(08-30-2022 04:34 PM)Houston Owl 2 Wrote:  I'm sure everyone knows that a lot of consideration went into the decision to pass on the BCM opportunity. As of today, BCM has over 4,000 full time faculty...Rice has 675 or so. There were a number of factors about merging the faculty, etc. and the cost of implementing the changes that were not easy to resolve.

Leebron's position was that a top-10 medical school would help Rice from a research and reputation perspective but that a top-30 medical school wouldn't be a positive. He estimated the cost to establish a top-10 medical school to be over $700 - $800 Million. (Those are obviously his estimates). I'm convinced he wanted to make the move but felt that the risk was too great.

Although as both a Rice grad, and a BCM grad would loved to have seen the merger, a possible 1 billion dollar bet, with , I believe at that time ~ 3-4 billion endowment, would not have been considered by most trustees to be fiducially reasonable

(08-30-2022 06:09 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(08-30-2022 04:34 PM)Houston Owl 2 Wrote:  I'm sure everyone knows that a lot of consideration went into the decision to pass on the BCM opportunity. As of today, BCM has over 4,000 full time faculty...Rice has 675 or so. There were a number of factors about merging the faculty, etc. and the cost of implementing the changes that were not easy to resolve.

Leebron's position was that a top-10 medical school would help Rice from a research and reputation perspective but that a top-30 medical school wouldn't be a positive. He estimated the cost to establish a top-10 medical school to be over $700 - $800 Million. (Those are obviously his estimates). I'm convinced he wanted to make the move but felt that the risk was too great.

Although as both a Rice grad, and a BCM grad would loved to have seen the merger, a possible 1 billion dollar bet, with , I believe at that time ~ 3-4 billion endowment, would not have been considered by most trustees to be fiducially reasonable

Willy Week this past spring, Leebron gave a Brains in a Bar interview that I got to sit in on. I remember him saying something to the effect that, due to the difference in scale between the two institutions, his job as president would have turned from running an elite research university that leans towards a focus on undergrads to running a med school that happens to have a university attached to it.

(08-30-2022 06:54 PM)franklyconfused Wrote:  

(08-30-2022 06:09 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(08-30-2022 04:34 PM)Houston Owl 2 Wrote:  I'm sure everyone knows that a lot of consideration went into the decision to pass on the BCM opportunity. As of today, BCM has over 4,000 full time faculty...Rice has 675 or so. There were a number of factors about merging the faculty, etc. and the cost of implementing the changes that were not easy to resolve.

Leebron's position was that a top-10 medical school would help Rice from a research and reputation perspective but that a top-30 medical school wouldn't be a positive. He estimated the cost to establish a top-10 medical school to be over $700 - $800 Million. (Those are obviously his estimates). I'm convinced he wanted to make the move but felt that the risk was too great.

Although as both a Rice grad, and a BCM grad would loved to have seen the merger, a possible 1 billion dollar bet, with , I believe at that time ~ 3-4 billion endowment, would not have been considered by most trustees to be fiducially reasonable

Willy Week this past spring, Leebron gave a Brains in a Bar interview that I got to sit in on. I remember him saying something to the effect that, due to the difference in scale between the two institutions, his job as president would have turned from running an elite research university that leans towards a focus on undergrads to running a med school that happens to have a university attached to it.

Yes, but that wasn't the reason we backed out. Rather, it was purely financial during the due diligence process. And, BTW, Leebron has consciously and gradually grown the grad enrollment and research $$$s. When he arrived, the ratio of undergrad to grad students was under 4:1. By 2025, under his vision, it will be 5:4. Not saying that's necessarily for the better.