School of Medicine Receives National Award for Innovations in Medical Education

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA) named the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine the recipient of the SGEA Innovations in Medical Education Award. The School of Medicine will receive the 2013 award for the Family Medicine Accelerated Track (FMAT) program, a three-year medical degree.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), since 1997, U.S. medical school graduate matches in family medicine and general internal medicine programs have fallen by nearly 50 percent. A 2006 AAFP Workforce Study estimated the U.S. will need approximately 39,000 more family physicians by 2020.

The FMAT program, which was designed to address the physician shortages, was approved by the LCME in 2010. The first FMAT class graduated in May. The purpose of FMAT is to prepare primary care physicians more efficiently and with less cost. The program reduces the cost of medical school for students because they save a full year of tuition and fees. The School of Medicine also provides scholarship support for tuition and fees during the students second year.

The curriculum, which includes early introduction to clinical care in a Family Medicine Clerkship across the entire second year of the program, provides an educational experience for FMAT students comparable to the traditional four-year medical student.

“This is a program of national importance as we work to ensure that all Americans will have access to a primary care physician, said Steven L. Berk, M.D., TTUHSC executive vice president, provost and dean of the School of Medicine. “We are committed to taking the first steps in changing how medical schools attract and educate future family medicine doctors and are honored to receive this recognition from SGEA.”

SGEA recognizes members who have developed an innovative approach to medical education and support participation of SGEA members in activities that promote educational scholarship.

Betsy Goebel Jones, Ed.D., School of Medicine professor and vice chair of the Department of Family Medicine, said SGEA includes 48 medical schools located throughout the Southern region in the United States.

“SGEA has been a leader in supporting educational innovation, creativity and academic excellence,” Jones said. “We are so honored to have received this award from SGEA and our fellow medical educators.”

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