UT Health Science Center at Houston Profile

In the mid 1940’s a quiet transformation was taking place in a small area within the city of Houston. The resulting Texas Medical Center changed the face of Houston and the state of Texas forever. While watching this developing medical synergy, a committee of representatives from The University of Texas (UT) System decided to take action. As the Texas Medical Center became a world renowned medical center, the face of medical education within its boundaries was also gaining a reputation. Today what started as a committee proposal in the mid 1960’s has become the most comprehensive of the six health institutions in the UT System, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H.)

Since UTHSC-H’s creation by the UT Board of Regents and endorsement by the Texas Legislature in 1972, the university stretched the boundaries of academic medicine and the medical education frontier by becoming a health science center with a character and scope different from any other in Texas. Innovative teaching environments within the six academic schools have brought the university’s scope into extensive research opportunities, comprehensive patient care and community service. The comprehensive environment of the university brings together researchers from the different disciplines to explore and find prevention models for some of the most difficult diseases of this century.

The core of UTHSC-H’s strength is the eight academic and operating units:
- Dental Branch
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
- School of Health Information Sciences
- Medical School
- School of Nursing
- School of Public Health
- Harris County Psychiatric Center
- The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases

UTHSC-H is characterized by consolidation and growth in all dimensions. The university combines the biomedical sciences, social sciences and behavioral sciences, with influences from the humanities in the kind of interdisciplinary activities that are part of the fundamental definition of a modern academic health science center. These interdisciplinary activities enable UTHSC-H to place special emphasis on complex ethical, economic, socio-behavioral, scientific and clinical questions related to health.

To continue this collaborative spirit, UTHSC-H maintains close ties with many Texas Medical Center institutions as well as Rice University, the University of Houston (both the main campus and the downtown campus), Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University, UT-Pan American and UT-El Paso, to name a few.

As we begin our 32nd year, the university will continue its emphasis on teaching, research, patient care and community service to the large and diverse community of the greater Houston area and to the State of Texas. UTHSC-H will maintain its focus on the relationships among basic biomedical and behavioral research, direct patient care and health services, preventive services and public education. This focus will enable UTHSC-H to continue to fulfill its obligation to train and educate health professionals and biomedical scientists for the state in a setting that combines clinical and didactic teaching with excellent research.

In the academic year 2003-2004, the UTHSC-H community includes 9,023 members (4,753 faculty and staff, 3,417 students, 653 medical residents and approximately 200 fellows.)

Resources

Page (pdf)
Chapter (pdf)
Organization chart (pdf)

Links