Boosting Family Medicine Physicians

Ron Cook, D.O., MBA, with FMAT students Molly Rooney and Danica McAden.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine Family Medicine Accelerated Track (FMAT) program was the featured in the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) News and also was named one of the top 25 health stories by the Texas Medical Board.

The article, “Three-year Med School Track Boosts Family Medicine in Texas,” included interviews by Steven L. Berk, M.D., TTUHSC executive vice president, provost and School of Medicine dean, Robert Cooper, M.D., and Keeley Bramblett, M.D., both FMAT inaugural class graduates.

According to the AAFP, since 1997, U.S. medical school graduate matches in family medicine and general internal medicine programs have fallen by nearly 50 percent.

In an effort to address the U.S. shortage of primary care physicians, the TTUHSC School of Medicine established FMAT, the first three-year medical degree ever approved by the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education. The program allows primary care students at the TTUHSC School of Medicine to complete their degree in three years at half of the cost of the standard four-year program.

In the article, Berk states the program has had its critics, yet the students are successful in completing the competencies and the program is now highly competitive at TTUHSC.

"We made family medicine more prestigious," Berk said. "In the past, when a good student said he was going into family medicine, the faculty would say, 'why are you doing that?' We don't have that here. Now there are more fourth-year students choosing family medicine."

Related Stories

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Rural Adolescents

Leigh Ann Reel, Au.D., Ph.D., CCC-A, discussed the causes and prevention strategies for noise-induced hearing loss, particularly for adolescents in rural areas.

Willed Body Memorial Service Honors Those Who Donated

On Memorial Day each May, a service is conducted at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Institute of Anatomical Sciences to pay respect to the Willed Body Program donors and their families.

Molecular Pathology Preceptorship: Unmatched Value and Experience

Ericka Hendrix, PhD, MB(ASCP)CM, Program Director and Associate Professor in the Master of Science in Molecular Pathology program in the School of Health Professions spoke about the program’s preceptorship.

Recent Stories

Health

TTUHSC Receives $1.3 Million HRSA Telehealth Resource Center Grant to Expand Telehealth in Texas and Louisiana

The TexLa Telehealth Resource Center, based at TTUHSC, has been awarded a $1.3 million, four-year grant from HRSA to strengthen and expand digital health services in Texas and Louisiana.

Health

The Relational Health Center Celebrates Two Years of Care for Families

On Friday, August 22, from 3 - 5 p.m., the Relational Health Center is celebrating its second birthday with an open house event at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock.

Campus Life

From Backpacks to White Coats: TTUHSC School of Medicine Invests in Tomorrow’s Healers Today

As part of its partnership with JAMP, the TTUHSC School of Medicine Admissions Office recently partnered with Alderson Elementary School in the Lubbock Independent School District to provide critical school supplies.