Update: The Star-Telegram reports that the UNT Board of Regents has OK’d the plan to form a medical school. City and school leaders have announced a press conference at 2 p.m. Look for a longer story later today.
The Board of Regents at the University of North Texas is expected to vote today on whether to form a medical school alongside Texas Christian University, The Dallas Morning News reports.
No one spoke on the record to the newspaper to confirm it, but nobody denied it, either. Currently, UT Southwestern Medical Center is the only medical degree program accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in Dallas-Fort Worth. UNTHSC does have the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine under its wing, which is separately accredited through the Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and issues Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine, or DO, degrees.
The News reports that TCU would provide the money, while the UNT Health Science Center will bring “the know-how.”
The location would be on the UNTHSC campus, off University Drive and Camp Bowie Boulevard. The paper notes that UNT has tried to form a medical school since 2009, when the regents voted unanimously to look into forming one. It’s expected to cost more than $20 million.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said UT Southwestern is the only accredited medical school in Dallas-Fort Worth. In actuality, it is the only school that was awarded accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the program approved by the U.S. Department of Education to weigh accreditation at American medical schools. The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at UNTHSC has separate accreditation through the Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.
