Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun, president of UT Tyler since 2002, has announced his retirement.

The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine launched its Early Assurance Program Wednesday afternoon with a Signing Day at UT Tyler Health Science Center.

“Most students that participate in the Early Assurance Program are those students who may not necessarily be accepted into a more traditional world renowned medical school,” said Gisele Armond Abron, Ph.D. Associate Dean of Admissions at UT Tyler. “Pathways gives us the opportunity to develop our pipeline for the School of Medicine … so that we can serve in East Texas.”

To meet the growing need of physicians and healthcare in East Texas, the Early Assurance Program, known as “Pathways to Medicine,” will prepare 40 students each year from local colleges and universities for a successful career in the medical field by providing clinical exposure and developing necessary study skills for medical school.

“This really provides an opportunity for our East Texas students to have a pathway to the School of Medicine in Tyler to stay and practice in East Texas,” said Dr. Erin Childress, Interim Pre-Health Professions Director and Lecturer for the Department of Biology at Stephen F. Austin State University. “To really encourage that role and keep our great students from East Texas have a pathway to medical school.”

Up to 15 Early Assurance Program participants will be admitted into each School of Medicine cohort.

“This is just gonna open that entire pathway to get physicians and strong physicians here in Texas communities,” Childress said.

According to UT Tyler’s president, Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun, UT Tyler started the medical school based on two important concepts, to address the shortage of physicians and lack of access to healthcare in northeast Texas and to give potential medical students better opportunities in higher education.

“We have 100% confidence that higher education across Northeast Texas can train these young people,” he said. “By establishing an Early Assurance program and partnering with these great institutions who are in our region, we feel that we can better deliver on the dual promise of serving our community by producing the right health care professionals and giving our young people the opportunities that they deserve.”

For Brigham Willis, founding dean of UT Tyler’s School of Medicine, this concept has been a dream in the works since his arrival.

“What an incredible honor it is to have all of our partner universities from across East Texas here today,” Willis said.

Willis talked about how the School of Medicine is much more than just training med students to become doctors but rather becoming leaders of healthcare and to keep them in East Texas.

“Early Assurance Program, to me, is foundational to our mission,” he said. “So, why not get the incredibly talented students at all of your universities locked into health care profession pathways before they leave? Give them the idea that they could be physicians and they can be nurses, that they can be pharmacists… they can do all these things but do it right here at home and serve the communities they grew up in.”

Students in local universities will apply to medical schools using the same rigorous criteria as medical school in their sophomore/junior year type timeframe and then go through a series of developmental activities, critical shadowing professionalism development, MCAT prep and socialization with other students who are in the program to become to start the process of becoming a medical professional.

“We believe that if you do all that, we’re going to prepare students to be doctors and be successful getting into medical school… and staying in the region to be leaders in our community,” Willis said.

Based on his experience with admissions to medical schools, Willis said most medical schools look for the same student, with the same criteria.

“We’re trying to change the game to focus on East Texas students who are focused on our region who are amazing people and are gonna stay here,” he said.

According to Willis, nine out of 10 people will say they expect empathy, listening skills, communication and humanism when it comes to what they look for in physicians.

“We value those in the students that we select equally with the academics,” he said. “We have people that are empathetic and really care about the communities they serve in and that’s what we’re looking for… and that for me it is game changing to look at admissions this way to pipeline from the universes in the region based on these criteria to make great empathetic physicians.”

The partnering institutions are: East Texas Baptist University, Jarvis Christian University, LeTourneau University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas College, Texas A&M University – Texarkana, UT Tyler and Wiley College.