My alma mater where I received my undergrad degree is planning to build a medical school. The new president is really pushing the school forward. Rumor has it she is pushing research and science to join the "tier one" race.
"Sam Houston State University plans to build a new medical school at the Camp Strake property, which will become the first medical school in Montgomery County to meet the needs of an expanding health care market near The Woodlands."
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2014/10/more-details-on-med-school-proposed-for-former.html

http://www.shsu.edu/pin_www/T%40S/2014/healthsciencescampus.html

Don't really see it happening at that location due to the owner. But interesting none the less/

That would be interesting. Right now we've got 9 med schools in Texas, with 2 more opening up in the next 2-3 years I think. One will be in Austin, and I think one will be in South Texas somewhere in the Valley.

I think building a new health science center would do more for providing nurses to a specific area than providing physicians. Most physicians pack up after their 4 years and move to a residency that can be anywhere in the country. Although most Texans do like returning to Texas. Either way, this could be a good thing. Texas definitely does need more doctors.

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Don't really see it happening at that location due to the owner. But interesting none the less/

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Johnson Development Corp. (the owner of the land) has already agreed to donate 10 acres of land to SHSU for its new medical school. The school will train: physicians, physician assistants, advance nurses, registered nurses and physical therapists. Fundraising for the new medical school will begin fall 2015.

Good bull if true.

However that information wasn't in that article you posted and Johnson would want to make that very public I'd imagine.

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Good bull if true.

However that information wasn't in that article you posted and Johnson would want to make that very public I'd imagine.

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Hey bud! My apologies, I should've provided the other link that mentions SHSUs partnership with Johnson Development. The medical school is in the early stages so both sides are being tight lipped. SHSU should be up and running in about six years.
Here is the link:

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/shsu-mulls-health-and-medical-campus-in-conroe/article_09fc70e5-3d28-588a-9083-ed7a9fcde2b2.html?mode=jqm


Here is the newest article posted just 12 hours ago:

http://www.itemonline.com/news/medical-school-at-shsu-may-be-gaining-traction/article_de67f152-833e-11e4-973a-4be0de0e5d43.html?mode=jqm

Don't mean to hate on SHSU, but we don't really need even more new medical schools right now... we need more funding for residency slots. The bottleneck in training physicians is quickly shifting/has already shifted from medical school enrollment to graduate medical education.

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Don't mean to hate on SHSU, but we don't really need even more new medical schools right now... we need more funding for residency slots. The bottleneck in training physicians is quickly shifting/has already shifted from medical school enrollment to graduate medical education.

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agree

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Don't mean to hate on SHSU, but we don't really need even more new medical schools right now... we need more funding for residency slots. The bottleneck in training physicians is quickly shifting/has already shifted from medical school enrollment to graduate medical education.

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At face value I'd agree with you however, we need more doctors in Texas. Texas ranks 42nd out of the 50 US states in physicians per 100,000 students. SHSU is purposely pursing an osteopathic school medical school because osteopathic physicians are more likely to practice primary care (our state's greatest need). Not to mention that Montgomery County is the most medically undeserved county in the state of Texas. Here is the link from the AAMC that supports that. https://www.aamc.org/download/263512/data/statedata2011.pdf

I agree that the face of medicine is quickly changing. I'm a newly admitted medical student and even I wonder what the future holds. Regardless, SHSU feels that with the growth occurring in the Woodlands, there needs to be more doctors to serve that area and eliminate the health disparities Montgomery County.

You are largely right. I completely agree we need more docs in Texas. I am a medical student myself.

But generally speaking, doctors practice where they complete their residency, not where they go to school. It costs a TON of money to start a new medical school, osteopathic or otherwise. This is why large numbers of docs protested the opening of UT's new med school in Austin and advocated for the money to instead be spent on residency slots within the state. We can keep opening new schools, but all or most those new students will wind up being forced to leave TX for residency. SHSU is a great school, but in the pissing contest that is higher education, every university now wants a med school to boost their political and academic standing. Because of that, we are going to wind up with 2, maybe now 3, new texas medical schools and potentially very few new docs practicing here. This article is old, and funding was increased in 2013, but not by enough to make a significant dent with the future increases in med school graduates. I say focus on funding GME first and build the schools afterward once you can supply our med school graduates with the residencies necessary to keep them here.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Tight-funding-crimps-in-state-residencies-4419130.php

What about getting starting with a few areas in Med and grow up. Such as Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Pa etc.

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Good bull if true.

However that information wasn't in that article you posted and Johnson would want to make that very public I'd imagine.

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How exactly is it good bull is we are discussing a potential shsu medical school?

More educational opportunities.

Not to keep beating a dead horse, but I was at the TMA meeting over in Austin today and got the low-down on the FIVE potential new medical schools opening within five years... the two new UT ones, the Incarnate Word DO school opening in San Antonio in 2016, the SHSU moves occurring to open a DO school in Mont. Co., and U of H's new study just announced to look at opening a new med school in Houston before 2020. That's a lot of new med school graduates, and the legislature is only proposing an expansion of $9mil in state GME funding for residencies this session. Every school wants the prestige of having a med school, but we're going to wind up taking less qualified students to fill this glut of spots... and then we're going to send most away to do their residencies and likely practice elsewhere. Ugh.

I agree with NorthStar here. The last two years there have been more medical school graduates nationwide than there have been residency spots, so each new medical school produces absolutely zero new doctors if we don't increase residency slots. A medical school in Montgomery county will not increase the number of doctors in the area because there aren't any residency slots at area hospitals. I also agree with the fact that we're just going to be watering down the quality of medical students, especially with the DO schools. In a couple months I'm going to be graduating from (what I consider to be) the top medical school in the state and there are people in my class that there's no way I would go to as a physician, so I imagine that the situation is similar at other state schools. That is only going to get worse with 5 (?) new schools. What we need to do is work on recruiting college kids away from law school and other grad schools so that the new spots are filled by more qualified people.

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What about getting starting with a few areas in Med and grow up. Such as Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Pa etc.

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The proposed osteopathic medical school will include programs in: Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Physician Assistants, advanced nursing, public health, dental hygiene among other programs.

I have friends who are close to the decision makers and funding in in place, it's going to happen. Like I've said before we need more healthcare providers and SHSU is ready to help. This isn't about prestige, it's about helping to reduce the shortage of medically underserved areas in Texas.