Last year, UTRGV broke ground on the Cancer and Surgery Center in McAllen, plans to expand its services, and add new courses to improve local access to health care.
Monica Alaniz, assistant dean for Assessment Evaluation and Quality Improvement, said the medical program was lacking in the valley before it was brought to UTRGV.
“A lot of physicians tend to stay in the area where they go to school, or get their residencies, so by starting the medical school, we are hoping to increase the availability of healthcare here in the Valley,” Alaniz said.
The current plan to expand the size of the medical school is to increase class sizes and make more areas of specialities available to study.
However, without full accreditation, the School of Medicine is unable to hire additional professors and add courses to the curriculum.
“We are under provisional accreditation right right now,” Alaniz said. “We are accredited, but we want to get to full accreditation, that comes with time.”
What makes UTRGV’s medical school different from other institutions starts with its diversity.
It is one of the most diverse medical schools in the whole country, having more minorities than any other institution, according to Alaniz.
“We want physicians that are latinos. … We are graduating the kinds of physicians that can work with our minority communities,” Alaniz said.
This and the continuation to conduct research in conjunction with the School of Medicine is all part of the list of accomplishments she described.
Dr. Michael Hocker, dean of the School of Medicine and senior vice president of UT Health RGV, wants to make oncology healthcare, cancer treatment, accessible to patients in South Texas.
“It’s sad, there is still a significant amount of patients, especially if they have insurance or capabilities, who are leaving South Texas to go get their cancer care,” Hocker said.
UTRGV School of Podiatric Medicine is the only podiatry institution and school to be accredited in Texas in more than a decade. The physical therapy program and the MD / P.h.D program is something to look for in the future.
Dr. Hocker said UTRGV specializes in research specific to the needs of those in South Texas.
“We have South Texas institutions, diabetes in genetics where we look at genetic factors and do these processes specifically to folks in South Texas,” Hocker said. “There is this significant disease of Alzheimer’s and memory disorder problems in Texas.”
At the end of the day, Alaniz believes in graduating classes that contain servant leaders,
people who serve the community, with the goal of taking a different approach to medicine.
The new UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center is on track to begin operation in January 2025, with resources such as medical and radiation oncology, and infusion centers.
