Why would the UNTHSC consider adding a parallel MD degree program to the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine’s existing DO degree?
Texas faces a looming shortage of primary care physicians. In fact, Texas has been consistently ranked in a variety of studies as having the fewest physicians per population in the country. We hope to increase our class size to support the primary care physician needs of Texas; however, we need to identify the necessary number of high quality clinical rotation opportunities for our students in order to do so. Growing competition from potential new MD programs and the growth of existing MD programs increases competition for these clinical rotation opportunities. In addition, the closure of all osteopathic hospitals in Texas has resulted in a limited number of uniquely osteopathic clinical opportunities for our students, and this has limited our growth.
