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

• By Kay Williams
• August 14, 2025
• Campus Life

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s (TTUHSC) School of Medicine is doing more than training future physicians. It's planting the seeds early through community outreach, with the goal of seeing today’s elementary school students become tomorrow’s doctors.

As part of its partnership with the Joint Admission Medical Program (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. Through a $5,400 JAMP outreach grant, the School of Medicine equipped classrooms with tools the school’s 435 students need to succeed — from notebooks and markers to tissues and hand sanitizer — just in time for the new academic year.

“This is more than just donating supplies,” said Felix Morales, M.D., associate dean of admissions at TTUHSC School of Medicine and member and past chair of the state of Texas JAMP council. “It’s a way of telling these children that they belong in spaces like ours. They can grow up to become health care professionals who serve their own communities.”

JAMP, an initiative funded by the state legislature, helps Texas students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds pursue careers in medicine. It is a collaborative partnership with 68 undergraduate colleges and universities and 14 Texas medical schools.

Through its JAMP outreach, TTUHSC supports local students through programs such as Middle School to Medical School in partnership with Harmony Science Academy and summer enrichment activities for high school and undergraduate students.

“This grant allows us to pour into our community,” Morales added. “We don’t expect anything in return. But if one of these students walks through the doors of our School of Medicine someday, we’ll know it started with moments like this.”

At Alderson Elementary, where 99% of students come from low-income households, the need is very real.

“We have some parents who have to choose between paying rent or buying school supplies,” said Drue Coleman, Ph.D., Alderson Elementary School’s principal. “This support is more than just a donation; it's an answered prayer. It helps us keep kids healthy, present and engaged in the classroom.”

Coleman emphasized that even simple items like Kleenex and hand sanitizer make a meaningful impact. 

“If kids aren’t in school because they’re sick or unprepared, they can’t learn. These supplies help us teach, love and care for our students — and that’s what we’re here to do,” she said.

The TTUHSC Admissions team will continue its outreach with back-to-school events in Midland-Odessa and Amarillo.

“This is just the beginning,” Morales said. “We’ll be back. Next time, I might be bringing my white coat to talk to the kids about becoming doctors.”