UT Health East Texas EMS prepare for an EMS simulation. (Raquel Villatoro/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

At the UT Tyler School of Medicine, first-year medical students receive EMT training during their first semester of medical school.

The partnership between UT Health East Texas EMS and UT Tyler SOM allows students to do both. They are able to start EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) coursework before their first classes. By November, they complete their training.

“It’s unusual in most medical schools that you’ll be able to be directly providing patient care, really, within four weeks of starting medical school,” said Sam Behr, UT Health East Texas EMS Director of Clinical Services. “So I think it gives you a really good taste for starting that patient care experience, as well as motivation as you continue on with your learning program there.”

First-year medical students Keri Dean and Grace Harper completed their training. Through the experience, they learned skills they can build on and connected with other healthcare professionals.

“It’s really important to, as soon as you can, start getting that patient contact,” Harper said. “Just learning how to communicate with people, how to interact with patients, just being comfortable in that setting, so that you can actually put that knowledge [and] apply that knowledge in a real setting.”

Dean heard about the UT Tyler SOM from one of her high school teachers. After the teacher showed her a news article about the new school opening, she was excited. Dean dreamed of becoming a doctor. She hopes to go back and serve her small town in East Texas —Ore City.

Harper found out about UT Tyler SOM through the application portal. After interviewing and visiting the school, she felt it was a good fit. In the future, Harper hopes to work in pediatrics.

The EMT training program allows students to get experience working in rural areas and learn how to communicate with patients. The program is four weeks long and students have 6 to 8 months to complete the training and coursework. In addition, students are required to complete hospital and ambulance shifts.

“It’s very well integrated, and the things that you’re learning you’ll see consistently,” Dean said.

Being able to receive hands-on experience is important for medical students. However, not all students who attend medical school have prior clinical experience.

“This gives us all that level ground to where we get to be hands-on with patients, see what real clinical experience is like, and have a jump start for the beginning of our careers,” Dean said.

Through EMT training, students learn CPR and life training. In their current courses, they are learning about cardiac, pulmonary and kidneys.

“Nothing else really helps prepare you to help really understand your community, like meeting their needs at their place of residence, out on the street, at their job where they work, and gives you a much greater appreciation for the patients that you’ll be caring for,” Behr said.

UT Tyler SOM welcomed the first class of medical students in 2023. In June, the school welcomed its second class of first-year medical students. Next year, students will train and attend classes in the SOM’s new state-of-the-art Medical Education Building, located across from UT Health Tyler on Beckham Avenue. 

UT Tyler SOM was founded to fill the gaps and healthcare needs of Northeast Texas. The goal is to train providers in the region in the hopes they will stay. In addition to the medical school, the Graduate Medical Education program is adding new residencies to continue training students in specialties needed in northeast Texas.