UT Tyler School of Medicine welcomed its inaugural class during a special orientation "Welcome Week."

It is the middle of summer, but for the 40 students of the University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine inaugural class, the work is just beginning.

“It’s a great and brand new experience, it’s not really like any school I’ve ever done before,” said Justin Crowe, first-year medical student. “I’ve been through undergraduate and graduate school and it’s different, but this has been an excellent experience so far.”

The UT Tyler School of Medicine was announced in 2020 to accommodate a growing, critical need of more physicians in East Texas and has since continued momentum to become the first of its kind in the region.

It will be the graduate medical school of UT Tyler, and will be the first medical school in East Texas, the seventh medical school in the University of Texas System and 16th medical school in the state of Texas.

“We’ve started from scratch,” said Crystal Bryce, Ph.D, Associate Dean for Student Affairs for UT Tyler School of Medicine. “We had preliminary accreditation last year and so getting everything set to get the students here, it’s been a whirlwind, but we have a curriculum created.”

In December 2022, UT Tyler School of Medicine received approval for their Doctor of Medicine program from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

“It’s been really exciting,” Bryce said. “I’ve been here a year and it’s been prepping for students for a year and getting them all in. There’s been so much community outreach and support… and it’s exciting that they’re actually here now and we get to start this school with them and have this experience with them moving forward.”

Since the beginning, the UT Tyler School of Medicine has received overwhelming support, including significant financial gifts, from the community.

Medical schools have a notorious rigorous application process — and UT Tyler School of Medicine is no exception, especially since the inaugural class will be receiving free tuition thanks to a $4 million donation from the R.W. Fair Foundation.

According to Bryce, there were 3,623 preliminary applicants, which was narrowed down to 2,077 for secondary applicants, then 272 to be interviewed for the School of Medicine before selecting 40 applicants.

“We wanted to stick with 40 because it really helps us make sure that we can have individual relationships with these students and have these students be well supported in their pursuit,” Bryce said. “As a new medical school, 40 is nice because it helps us make sure that everything’s on track and that we’re really providing them the best experience and the best training possible.”

The process was nerve racking for applicants like Jacksonville native Crowe, who received his acceptance in March of this year.

“The weight of not knowing if you’re going to be accepted and… not knowing exactly how it’s gonna be until it starts… it can induce a lot of anxiety in a person,” he said. “But luckily… the wait paid off.”

To mark the students’ entry into the medical profession, UT Tyler School of Medicine hosted a White Coat Ceremony, a rite of passage for first year medical students. During the prestigious ceremony, students recited the physician’s oath and received a white coat with a medicine pin.

“Everyone is working really hard…and everyone’s happy to be back in the groove of going to class,” he said. “A lot of us haven’t been in class for months in between, or haven’t been to class for years in between.”

As a first-year medical student, Crowe knows the importance of buckling down and working hard to achieve a lifelong dream.

“That’s a big part of it for all of us, I think, is that it’s been surreal actually being here because you dream about this for a long time before you actually get here,” Crowe said.

As the smallest medical school class in Texas, the 40 students already have a special bond, one that was established during orientation.

“It really helps feel like a close knit community which is really conducive to learning and success,” Crowe said.

Now that classes are underway, many of the first-year students are focusing on their prospective fields, but Crowe already knows which area of focus he wants to pursue.

“I’ve really been interested in keeping up with people over time,” he said. “So I really think that family medicine or oncology would suit me best — dealing with the same people and kind of going along with them on their journey through health care.”

The school’s inaugural class is learning at UT Tyler’s North Health Science Center campus until the $308 million Medical Education Building opens in March 2025.

According to the UT System, the future medical education building, located on Beckham Avenue, will be five stories tall and almost 248,000 square feet in the heart of Tyler’s medical district in Midtown. The building is expected to be completed in 2025.

The building will include classrooms, simulation labs, clinical and operating room training spaces, and multipurpose event and lecture spaces for the UT Tyler School of Medicine and graduate medical education programs.

The efforts of the multi-million dollar education building stems from a large amount of support from the community, from donors to retired physicians offering assistance.

“We’ve had physicians ask if they can support students who are retired and they want to help students learn about finances or they want to help students learn about what it’s like to go into different fields,” Bryce said. “We’ve had people reach out offering to basically adopt a medical student, as familial support that maybe they don’t have or just have that other person to talk to.”

According to Bryce, they have over 300 faculty members, which includes both academic and clinical.

“I really do appreciate all of the faculty, the staff… the students really appreciate all the support that’s come from the community,” Crowe said. “All the positive comments and the welcoming energy that’s that everyone has offered to us has been very helpful. A big thank you to the Tyler community for welcoming us.”

As for any potential applicants or medical students, the advice is simple: study hard.

“Trust the process, put it in your best effort, be yourself and you’ll end up exactly where you’re supposed to be,” Crowe said.

A testament to the continued community support, the second class of the medical school will also receive a four-year scholarship to cover their full tuition. This announcement was made in September 2022 when Ednamae Walsh gave a $5 million gift to the school.