Welcome Letter

Brigham C. Willis, MD, MEd, FAAP

I am thrilled to present our second quarterly newsletter for The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine. I have seen so much happening at the school over the past few months: the community reaching out to support and welcome us; our faculty working diligently to create an innovative curriculum; our team planning for the upcoming white coat ceremony; a bright, diverse group of applicants coming here to interview with us; and nationally recognized health care professionals joining our team. All of these factors are equipping us to be medical education leaders in East Texas and throughout the nation. More exciting things are ahead. First, it is important to recognize some of our significant milestones.

We were granted preliminary accreditation in June 2022 by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Approval for our MD program by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) followed in December 2022. A lot of work went into achieving both of those goals, and I appreciate everyone on the School of Medicine team who contributed.

We have finished our very first interview season with a total of 2,034 applications and 272 interviews. I met a number of these students, and I was encouraged by how many of them were passionate about improving health care and access in the East Texas region. I am looking forward to seeing the impact that our students will have on the community.

The community, our elected officials and The University of Texas System continue to show us an overwhelming amount of support. I can’t thank them enough for everything they have done. This support demonstrates that the community is willing to invest in the medical school because they know it will have an impact on the region for generations to come. We have been given so much, and I am excited to see how we (as a school) will give back to the community. Moving forward, we are going to continue to need philanthropic partnerships to ensure we have the resources necessary to provide our students with an exceptional learning environment, develop core residency programs, enhance biomedical research and provide scholarships.

In January 2023, we hosted a groundbreaking for the School of Medicine’s Medical Education Building, which was attended by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, UT System Chairman Kevin Eltife, UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken and UT Tyler President Kirk A. Calhoun. The five-story, 248,000-square-foot facility is going to be in the middle of Tyler’s medical district by the UT Health East Texas Midtown hospital.

I am so proud of everything we have accomplished. With each of these milestones, we are one step closer to helping resolve the physician shortage in East Texas. There is so much more to look forward to in the coming months. Thank you all for contributing to making our school the nexus for change in the East Texas region. We couldn’t do it without you.