TYLER, Texas —
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler is in the process of a major medical education expansion.
The hospital is adding two new residency programs in surgery and internal medicine.
UTHSCT is one of only a handful of university centers in Texas offering graduate medical education, the three- to seven-year residency programs medical students pursue after completing four years of medical school.
The five-year surgical residency will maintain three available positions per year, while the three-year internal medicine residency will have 20 vacancies per year.
Both new residency programs recently received accreditation and the first residents in the programs will begin in July of 2020.
Dr. Emmanuel Elueze, Vice President for Medical Education and Professional Development, says the goal of the expansion is to encourage East Texans to stay close to home.
"So that gives us an opportunity to to continue to provide for primary care for Tyler and the Texas community," Dr. Elueze said. "If they train here, they are likely to remain here after the training, and that's the key. And we are so pleased with that because we have a very good track record of keeping our residents."
UTHSCT hopes to triple its residency training footprint by 2025, by offering up to 300 resident positions in various core medical disciplines in order to better serve the healthcare needs of the region.
While students train, they will be treating patients in surrounding cities near Tyler, including Pittsburg, Rusk and Terrell.
A family medicine residency program in Athens is also being developed, and new residents could start as early as 2021.
The new surgical and internal medicine residency programs will start accepting applications in July 2019.
To see a list of degree programs UTHSCT has to offer, click here. To apply for one of these distinguished programs, click here.