With a population of over 964,000, Austin is the second-most-populous state capital in the United States. US News & World Report recognizes this city as the No. 1 place to live in the entire country. If you are considering Austin as the destination for your medical education, you might be a little disappointed to know there’s just one medical school in the city. However, there are two other medical schools that are sited within a hundred miles of the Texan capital. Below, you will find more information about the three medical schools in and near Austin.
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Medical Schools in and near Austin
1. University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) was established way back in 1881 and was known simply as the University of Texas until 1967. It is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System, the largest system of universities in the state of Texas. UT Austin’s main campus encompasses 431 acres of land in Austin. It has a student population of nearly 52,000, which represents all 50 states in the US and 124 countries around the world. The university offers 393 academic programs at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels through its 18 colleges and schools. It ranks 45th globally in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2019, while the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 puts it in the 38th spot. So far, the university has produced multiple Nobel laureates including Don Thomas and John Maxwell Coetzee.
UT Austin’s medical school is called the Dell Medical School (DellMed), being named after the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The particular non-profit organization has pledged $50 million over a period of ten years to medical school. Founded as recently as 2016, the medical school is the newest among all colleges and schools at UT Austin. It currently has around a couple of hundred students coming from 24 US states and 19 countries. The Undergraduate Medical Education (MD program) at DellMed aims at providing students with the core competencies required to practice modern medicine as well as the knowledge and skills that enable them to become better leaders, communicators, partners, and caregivers. The program’s “Leading EDGE” curriculum for the four-year program comprises four key components: Essentials, Discovery, Growth, and Exploration. The annual tuition for in-state students is around $21,100, while the out-of-state and international students have to pay around $35,400. The medical school also offers a variety of Graduate Medical Education residency and fellowship programs, a Continuing Medical Education program, and a Master of Science in Health Care Transformation program.
2. University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, commonly referred to as UT Health San Antonio, is placed in the city of San Antonio, at a distance of around 82 miles from downtown Austin. It is an academic health science center belonging to the humongous University of Texas System. Although its different schools had started coming into being in 1959, UT Health San Antonio officially began its journey as a health science center in 1972. Currently, it consists of five schools: Long School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Dentistry, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and School of Health Professions. Through these schools, it offers 65 degree specialties. Its total enrollment stands at over 4,100, including residents and post-graduate trainees. It ranks among the top 200 institutions in ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2019 – Clinical Medicine.
This medical school in Austin offers its MD program which is guided by three competencies: altruism, knowledge, and skills. Its curriculum integrates knowledge of basic and clinical science with early clinical experiences. As a result, students gain a better understanding of the disease processes and management. It stresses active learning with formative checkpoints, allowing students to assess their progress on their own and develop self-directed learning and inquiry habits. Tuitions for the MD program are around $22,250 per year for Texas residents and around $37,400 per year for those coming from other US states or outside the country. It is possible to earn an MD degree with distinction in Research, Medical Education, or Medical Humanities. Additionally, options of MD/MPH and MD/PhD dual degrees are also available here.
3. Texas A&M Health Science Center
The Texas A&M Health Science Center began its journey in 1999 as an independent state agency of the Texas A&M University System. However, in 2013, it was transformed into an academic unit of Texas A&M University, one of the most populous universities in the country with nearly 70,000 students. Established in 1876, the university is organized into 17 colleges and schools. Five of the – College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, College of Nursing, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, and School of Public Health – together make up the Texas A&M Health Science Center. This medical school in Austin has about 3,200 students enrolled in 26 academic programs. It consists of eight campuses that are scattered across Texas. The main campus, which is known as the Bryan-College Station campus, is around 100 miles away from downtown Austin.
The College of Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center offers a Doctor of Medicine program that adopted a more innovative curriculum in the recent past. This new curriculum aims at bringing more flexibility and individualization to the education process by integrating basic science content more closely with clinical context, providing clinical exposure to students sooner, and reinforcing basic science content in clinical rotations. For the MD program, in-state students have to pay about $19,700 in tuition annually, while out-of-state and international students have to pay about $32,800. Dual degree options known as MD Plus Programs are also available, allowing students to earn MD degree along with a master’s degree in Medical Science (MS), Business Administration (MBA), Education for Healthcare Professionals (EDHP), Engineering (ME), or Public Health (MPH). The College of Medicine runs these four/five-year-long integrated programs in collaboration with another school or college within the Texas A&M Health Science Center or at the Texas A&M University. The college also offers a doctoral program in Medical Science.
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