May 10, 2024 • 11 mins
Discover a revolution in medical education as Dr. Brigham Willis of the UT Tyler School of Medicine shares the milestones achieved by this new medical hub, from the inaugural class's successful first year to the fully-funded tuition for the second class of 40 students, all with deep roots in East Texas. Delve into the school's mission to foster healthcare excellence right in the heart of the community and the surge of interest witnessed with over 6,000 applicants eager to embark on their medical journeys. June 2024 is expected to bring groundbreaking progress in graduate medical education and vital community health initiatives, focusing on the pressing issue of mental health in East Texas.
Dr. Willis highlights the collective force of community support and the collaborative spirit that has propelled the UT Tyler School of Medicine from concept to reality. Reflecting on the profound personal inspiration from being part of such a transformative venture, he invites the public to engage directly with the school's ongoing evolution. From participating in simulated patient programs to volunteer opportunities, community involvement plays an integral role in nurturing the continued growth of this institution. Learn how you can join in the process of making the UT Tyler School of Medicine stands a beacon of hope and health for East Texas and beyond.
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LANDESS (00:04):
The opening of the new UT Tyler School of Medicine
facility is just over a yearaway and the inaugural class of
40 has completed its first yearof studies.
I'm Mike Landis, so how aboutclass number two and other
projects underway?
Ut Tyler Radio connects withfounding dean Dr Brigham Willis
to find out what is the makeupof the next class for the School
of Medicine.
WILLIS (00:25):
Well, thanks for having me, Mike, Great to be back.
I'm very excited to talk aboutthe school.
We've made incredible progresssince I was here last.
The second class is picked.
We're actually going to be ableto announce it in the next
couple of weeks actually ourfinal class roster.
The students have the abilityto change up till that point.
But we have an incredible classof 40 students with deep East
(00:46):
Texas roots, just like the firstclass, so we're very excited.
LANDESS (00:49):
So tell me a little bit about this class.
Is it paid for, like theinaugural class?
WILLIS (00:54):
Yes, we're incredibly lucky to get a second donor to
pay for tuition and fees for thesecond class for all four years
.
So incredibly generous.
That's the kind of supportwe've been very fortunate to
receive across the community isthe support of our students and
our school.
LANDESS (01:10):
This is such a huge thing for East Texas in so many
ways because of the focus of howyou're looking at what these
classes will do as they graduateand that they stay, that they
are East Texas centric for lackof a better term.
WILLIS (01:24):
That's exactly right and that's our entire mission.
That's why the school wascreated was to create health
care workforce and medicalprofessionals for East Texas.
So we're trying to selectstudents who grew up in the area
or have some deep ties to thearea, are committed to make
things better here and then,after their medical school
journey is complete.
We have really dramaticallyincreased our residency program
(01:45):
complement.
We had about four programsthree to four programs about
three to four years ago.
Now we're up to 20.
We've crossed the 20 mark thisyear and hope to be at around 25
next year.
We have over 200 residentswe're currently training and so
we need to provide thatopportunity for the students to
continue training in East Texaswhen they finish and then
eventually practice here.
LANDESS (02:06):
How many people applied for that?
WILLIS (02:08):
second class.
Well, it was a lot.
There were 6,000 initialapplications.
6,000?
Yes, it's a little inflatedAbout 2,600 fully completed
applications for the secondclass of 40.
So it is just inspiring to seethe excitement about still
becoming a medical professional.
Despite all the challenges youhear about in the media.
(02:28):
It's still, in my opinion, thebest job you could possibly have
on earth.
You're helping people, you'rereally doing good in your
community and we see that withthe application numbers, that
students are excited to becomephysicians and it allows us to
pick just incredible humanbeings to be physicians for our
school.
LANDESS (02:47):
One of the things that I've been impressed by in terms
of your approach when you camein as the founding dean was that
you have a real hands-on,down-to-earth kind of approach,
as a, for instance, that theclasses have to become certified
EMTs yes, I mean and ride alongon the truck and be functional.
WILLIS (03:07):
In that way, absolutely, they can save a life right off
the bat, absolutely yeah, we tryto focus the entire curriculum
on that.
We don't want to be ivory tower, learn this knowledge and don't
be able to apply it.
So our students, like you said,become EMTs in immediate
clinical exposure and developclinical skills from day one of
medical school.
(03:27):
So we don't want them justlearning a bunch of facts and
not being able to use those tohelp people.
So we really try to providethem with the experiences and
the training immediately to beof benefit to the community.
They're already going out intofree clinics and throughout the
community and really making adifference and we want to make
sure that continues.
LANDESS (03:45):
That connection to community, of course, is another
way of making sure that theywant to stay here in East Texas,
that they are attached as itwere.
WILLIS (03:52):
Absolutely.
As you know, once you meet thepeople in East Texas, you never
want to leave.
Yeah, that's absolutely true.
LANDESS (03:58):
When we last spoke to you in June of 2023, we talked
about a variety of things thatwere going on.
What kinds of accomplishmentswill have taken place by June of
2024?
WILLIS (04:09):
Man, there's so many different things.
If you look at it by missionarea, you know the student
complement will have obviouslycompleted their first year with
amazing success.
Their academics have beenreally impressive.
They're completing researchprojects, they're doing
community projects.
They're really getting engagedacross the board.
So we're really proud of theirsuccess.
(04:29):
We have them in leadership andnational organizations, so
really really amazing stuff.
Graduate medical education againwill be moving across the 20
program threshold, which isabsolutely amazing to think
about from just a few years ago,to be able to do that with our
partners at UT Health East Texasand our other clinical partners
throughout the region.
Research has been incrediblysuccessful over the last year as
(04:53):
well.
We have multiple newresearchers with new national
funding from the NIH and otherorganizations.
So pushing the boundaries ofknowledge creation as well
throughout the medical schooland then community.
You know we continue to involveeverything we do throughout the
medical school and thencommunity.
You know we continue to involveeverything we do throughout the
community and enhancingcommunity programs.
We're about to release thehealth status report for mental
(05:14):
health for East Texas.
We're beginning work on the new2026.
We're already starting nowhealth status report for the
entire region.
So we just continue to try tostrive for excellence in all our
mission areas.
LANDESS (05:27):
And that mental health aspect.
On May 7th there was an eventthat took place all across East
Texas inviting people to come tothe Berkshire Center and to
work with the Andrews Center and, of course, university of Texas
at Tyler.
I'm wondering how much of afocus is that going to be?
I mean, that's been identifiedas a terribly important part of
(05:51):
what we need to be thinkingabout as we move forward.
WILLIS (05:54):
Yeah, it's a focus throughout our school and across
our mission.
We have a community advisoryboard that I would encourage as
much participation if people areinterested where we take input
and ideas from the communityabout what we should be doing
with our school and ourcurriculum and our research.
And that was identified as thenumber one priority by our
community itself.
So our incredible psychiatrychair, dr McCollum-Smith, has
(06:14):
been really pushing our effortsin that area.
We have many new researchprojects, new residencies and
fellowships.
We just got approved for aforensic psychiatry program
which is fairly unique.
We have programs in mostmission areas for training.
So we're trying to trainworkforce.
We're partnering with our healthsystems to establish multiple
(06:36):
new clinical care sites, bothclinics and inpatient capacity.
So, and then obviously workingwith the community, like you
said, with the health summitdoing the report, working with
all the organizations focused onmental health, and then in our
curriculum we actually havebehavioral health integrated
throughout the entire curriculum.
So all of our students aregoing to be well-trained in the
(06:59):
aspects of behavioral health bythe time they finish Every
single student, not just onesthat are interested in it.
And I think that's criticalbecause if you look at East
Texas, so many rural populations.
They don't have a psychiatristin their town or their area and
their first point of contact forbehavioral health concerns is
their primary care physician.
So we want all of our studentsto have the core competencies to
(07:20):
be able to take care of thosepatients, obviously then refer
for specialty needs, but to havethat core competency in their
repertoire.
LANDESS (07:29):
Now.
A couple of newsworthy items inrecent months include the
Pathways Explorer mobile unit.
Share with us what that is andwhy it's important.
WILLIS (07:37):
Oh, that was an incredible event.
So we again see our mission asintegrating with the community
throughout the entire region,and so what we need to do is
inspire kids throughout EastTexas to become physicians.
And so we came up with thisidea for this program school bus
.
We like to call it the PathwaysExplorer unit, but it's a
modified bus that's going toallow kids anywhere in East
(08:00):
Texas to experience what it'slike to become a doctor, be a
doctor and take care of patients.
So the bus it opens up.
The kids can go in and workwith anatomical models, look at
simulated patient mannequins,listen to their heart sounds.
Do chest compressions reallysave a life, you know?
And then at the end they'll geta little white coat so they can
(08:21):
envision themselves becoming adoctor.
And then we connect them withthe resources to how do you
learn the STEM field?
How do you get trained so youcan go to college, so you can go
to our medical school, orbecome any kind of health
professional?
So I just see that as critical.
Or become any kind of healthprofessional?
So I just see that as critical.
Coming from a small town myself,when you don't have physicians
(08:42):
in your family or in yourcommunity, it becomes nearly
impossible to see the path.
How would I get there?
So, to give them that idea,even at kindergarten level, that
you can be a doctor, we're hereto show you how I think it's
going to be really powerful.
It's going to go all aroundEast Texas yes, that's the idea.
So we're already engaging withthe school districts all
throughout the region and so,anyone listening, if you have a
(09:03):
school or a class where you wantus to come, we'll come.
Do a demonstration, aninteractive event, so the kids
get inspired.
So they got a white coat.
Do they get a stethoscope too?
I'm not sure we can giveeverybody one, but they will
have them there and they canlisten to each other and do that
.
LANDESS (09:17):
I'm just teasing of course, a couple of newsworthy
items, as we mentioned, and oneof them is the recently
announced partnership with theUS Dermatology Partners in a UT
Tyler School of Medicinedermatology department.
Tell us more about that.
WILLIS (09:29):
Yeah, that's inspiring to me because we've had a number
of occasions like this wherereally private groups of
physicians came to us interestedin becoming part of the mission
of our school, and that's justa wonderful thing because they
see how important it is toeducate the next generation,
both for the community and fortheir practice and practices
across East Texas.
(09:50):
So they engaged with us and wewere more than proud to pull
them in and form a department ofdermatology around their
practice.
Incredible opportunity for ourstudents to be able to train in
dermatology both as students andresidents here right here in
East Texas.
So we were really pleased withthat, yeah.
LANDESS (10:07):
Now, are there any other possible programs with
other you talked about?
The doctors are coming to you.
Any other ones in the works?
There are?
It's hard to talk aboutspecific ones?
WILLIS (10:17):
Any other ones in the works there are?
It's hard to talk aboutspecific ones, but yes, we have
many endeavors with privategroups in a variety of fields at
this point.
Ongoing.
LANDESS (10:24):
That's right.
WILLIS (10:24):
Okay, All right Now what are you most proud of so far as
the founding dean of the Schoolof Medicine?
What am I most?
There's so many things, mike.
It's difficult, but I think thegrowth and the fact that we've
been able to address our missionin the way that I thought we
were going to be able torecruiting kids from East Texas,
(10:44):
building programs right here.
So right now you can grow upand go to school from
kindergarten through college,through medical school, through
residency, all the way throughfellowship in almost every field
of need and stay right here inEast Texas, and the fact that
we've been able to create thatinfrastructure, both from
physical infrastructure, fromthe building to curricula, to
programs, to recruiting doctors.
(11:06):
It's the most inspiring thingI've ever done or seen to be a
part of and to have thatcommunity support and see it
become a reality.
I know it's a very generalanswer, but the way all of that
came together has beenabsolutely incredible.
Any final thoughts you'd liketo share and see it become a
reality?
I know it's a very generalanswer, but the way all of that
came together has beenabsolutely incredible.
LANDESS (11:20):
Any final thoughts you'd like to share?
WILLIS (11:21):
No, just I would love for people to stay engaged.
We have multiple ways that youcan become engaged with the
school, from our simulatedpatient programs to volunteering
opportunities, and we welcomethe community in every aspect.
LANDESS (11:33):
Thanks for listening as UT Tyler Radio connects with Dr
Brigham Willis, founding deanof the UT Tyler School of
Medicine.
For UT Tyler Radio News, I'mMike Landis.
The opening of the new UT Tyler School of Medicine
facility is just over a yearaway and the inaugural class of
40 has completed its first yearof studies.
I'm Mike Landis, so how aboutclass number two and other
projects underway?
Ut Tyler Radio connects withfounding dean Dr Brigham Willis
to find out what is the makeupof the next class for the School
of Medicine.
WILLIS (00:25):
Well, thanks for having me, Mike, Great to be back.
I'm very excited to talk aboutthe school.
We've made incredible progresssince I was here last.
The second class is picked.
We're actually going to be ableto announce it in the next
couple of weeks actually ourfinal class roster.
The students have the abilityto change up till that point.
But we have an incredible classof 40 students with deep East
(00:46):
Texas roots, just like the firstclass, so we're very excited.
LANDESS (00:49):
So tell me a little bit about this class.
Is it paid for, like theinaugural class?
WILLIS (00:54):
Yes, we're incredibly lucky to get a second donor to
pay for tuition and fees for thesecond class for all four years
.
So incredibly generous.
That's the kind of supportwe've been very fortunate to
receive across the community isthe support of our students and
our school.
LANDESS (01:10):
This is such a huge thing for East Texas in so many
ways because of the focus of howyou're looking at what these
classes will do as they graduateand that they stay, that they
are East Texas centric for lackof a better term.
WILLIS (01:24):
That's exactly right and that's our entire mission.
That's why the school wascreated was to create health
care workforce and medicalprofessionals for East Texas.
So we're trying to selectstudents who grew up in the area
or have some deep ties to thearea, are committed to make
things better here and then,after their medical school
journey is complete.
We have really dramaticallyincreased our residency program
(01:45):
complement.
We had about four programsthree to four programs about
three to four years ago.
Now we're up to 20.
We've crossed the 20 mark thisyear and hope to be at around 25
next year.
We have over 200 residentswe're currently training and so
we need to provide thatopportunity for the students to
continue training in East Texaswhen they finish and then
eventually practice here.
LANDESS (02:06):
How many people applied for that?
WILLIS (02:08):
second class.
Well, it was a lot.
There were 6,000 initialapplications.
6,000?
Yes, it's a little inflatedAbout 2,600 fully completed
applications for the secondclass of 40.
So it is just inspiring to seethe excitement about still
becoming a medical professional.
Despite all the challenges youhear about in the media.
(02:28):
It's still, in my opinion, thebest job you could possibly have
on earth.
You're helping people, you'rereally doing good in your
community and we see that withthe application numbers, that
students are excited to becomephysicians and it allows us to
pick just incredible humanbeings to be physicians for our
school.
LANDESS (02:47):
One of the things that I've been impressed by in terms
of your approach when you camein as the founding dean was that
you have a real hands-on,down-to-earth kind of approach,
as a, for instance, that theclasses have to become certified
EMTs yes, I mean and ride alongon the truck and be functional.
WILLIS (03:07):
In that way, absolutely, they can save a life right off
the bat, absolutely yeah, we tryto focus the entire curriculum
on that.
We don't want to be ivory tower, learn this knowledge and don't
be able to apply it.
So our students, like you said,become EMTs in immediate
clinical exposure and developclinical skills from day one of
medical school.
(03:27):
So we don't want them justlearning a bunch of facts and
not being able to use those tohelp people.
So we really try to providethem with the experiences and
the training immediately to beof benefit to the community.
They're already going out intofree clinics and throughout the
community and really making adifference and we want to make
sure that continues.
LANDESS (03:45):
That connection to community, of course, is another
way of making sure that theywant to stay here in East Texas,
that they are attached as itwere.
WILLIS (03:52):
Absolutely.
As you know, once you meet thepeople in East Texas, you never
want to leave.
Yeah, that's absolutely true.
LANDESS (03:58):
When we last spoke to you in June of 2023, we talked
about a variety of things thatwere going on.
What kinds of accomplishmentswill have taken place by June of
2024?
WILLIS (04:09):
Man, there's so many different things.
If you look at it by missionarea, you know the student
complement will have obviouslycompleted their first year with
amazing success.
Their academics have beenreally impressive.
They're completing researchprojects, they're doing
community projects.
They're really getting engagedacross the board.
So we're really proud of theirsuccess.
(04:29):
We have them in leadership andnational organizations, so
really really amazing stuff.
Graduate medical education againwill be moving across the 20
program threshold, which isabsolutely amazing to think
about from just a few years ago,to be able to do that with our
partners at UT Health East Texasand our other clinical partners
throughout the region.
Research has been incrediblysuccessful over the last year as
(04:53):
well.
We have multiple newresearchers with new national
funding from the NIH and otherorganizations.
So pushing the boundaries ofknowledge creation as well
throughout the medical schooland then community.
You know we continue to involveeverything we do throughout the
medical school and thencommunity.
You know we continue to involveeverything we do throughout the
community and enhancingcommunity programs.
We're about to release thehealth status report for mental
(05:14):
health for East Texas.
We're beginning work on the new2026.
We're already starting nowhealth status report for the
entire region.
So we just continue to try tostrive for excellence in all our
mission areas.
LANDESS (05:27):
And that mental health aspect.
On May 7th there was an eventthat took place all across East
Texas inviting people to come tothe Berkshire Center and to
work with the Andrews Center and, of course, university of Texas
at Tyler.
I'm wondering how much of afocus is that going to be?
I mean, that's been identifiedas a terribly important part of
(05:51):
what we need to be thinkingabout as we move forward.
WILLIS (05:54):
Yeah, it's a focus throughout our school and across
our mission.
We have a community advisoryboard that I would encourage as
much participation if people areinterested where we take input
and ideas from the communityabout what we should be doing
with our school and ourcurriculum and our research.
And that was identified as thenumber one priority by our
community itself.
So our incredible psychiatrychair, dr McCollum-Smith, has
(06:14):
been really pushing our effortsin that area.
We have many new researchprojects, new residencies and
fellowships.
We just got approved for aforensic psychiatry program
which is fairly unique.
We have programs in mostmission areas for training.
So we're trying to trainworkforce.
We're partnering with our healthsystems to establish multiple
(06:36):
new clinical care sites, bothclinics and inpatient capacity.
So, and then obviously workingwith the community, like you
said, with the health summitdoing the report, working with
all the organizations focused onmental health, and then in our
curriculum we actually havebehavioral health integrated
throughout the entire curriculum.
So all of our students aregoing to be well-trained in the
(06:59):
aspects of behavioral health bythe time they finish Every
single student, not just onesthat are interested in it.
And I think that's criticalbecause if you look at East
Texas, so many rural populations.
They don't have a psychiatristin their town or their area and
their first point of contact forbehavioral health concerns is
their primary care physician.
So we want all of our studentsto have the core competencies to
(07:20):
be able to take care of thosepatients, obviously then refer
for specialty needs, but to havethat core competency in their
repertoire.
LANDESS (07:29):
Now.
A couple of newsworthy items inrecent months include the
Pathways Explorer mobile unit.
Share with us what that is andwhy it's important.
WILLIS (07:37):
Oh, that was an incredible event.
So we again see our mission asintegrating with the community
throughout the entire region,and so what we need to do is
inspire kids throughout EastTexas to become physicians.
And so we came up with thisidea for this program school bus
.
We like to call it the PathwaysExplorer unit, but it's a
modified bus that's going toallow kids anywhere in East
(08:00):
Texas to experience what it'slike to become a doctor, be a
doctor and take care of patients.
So the bus it opens up.
The kids can go in and workwith anatomical models, look at
simulated patient mannequins,listen to their heart sounds.
Do chest compressions reallysave a life, you know?
And then at the end they'll geta little white coat so they can
(08:21):
envision themselves becoming adoctor.
And then we connect them withthe resources to how do you
learn the STEM field?
How do you get trained so youcan go to college, so you can go
to our medical school, orbecome any kind of health
professional?
So I just see that as critical.
Or become any kind of healthprofessional?
So I just see that as critical.
Coming from a small town myself,when you don't have physicians
(08:42):
in your family or in yourcommunity, it becomes nearly
impossible to see the path.
How would I get there?
So, to give them that idea,even at kindergarten level, that
you can be a doctor, we're hereto show you how I think it's
going to be really powerful.
It's going to go all aroundEast Texas yes, that's the idea.
So we're already engaging withthe school districts all
throughout the region and so,anyone listening, if you have a
(09:03):
school or a class where you wantus to come, we'll come.
Do a demonstration, aninteractive event, so the kids
get inspired.
So they got a white coat.
Do they get a stethoscope too?
I'm not sure we can giveeverybody one, but they will
have them there and they canlisten to each other and do that
.
LANDESS (09:17):
I'm just teasing of course, a couple of newsworthy
items, as we mentioned, and oneof them is the recently
announced partnership with theUS Dermatology Partners in a UT
Tyler School of Medicinedermatology department.
Tell us more about that.
WILLIS (09:29):
Yeah, that's inspiring to me because we've had a number
of occasions like this wherereally private groups of
physicians came to us interestedin becoming part of the mission
of our school, and that's justa wonderful thing because they
see how important it is toeducate the next generation,
both for the community and fortheir practice and practices
across East Texas.
(09:50):
So they engaged with us and wewere more than proud to pull
them in and form a department ofdermatology around their
practice.
Incredible opportunity for ourstudents to be able to train in
dermatology both as students andresidents here right here in
East Texas.
So we were really pleased withthat, yeah.
LANDESS (10:07):
Now, are there any other possible programs with
other you talked about?
The doctors are coming to you.
Any other ones in the works?
There are?
It's hard to talk aboutspecific ones?
WILLIS (10:17):
Any other ones in the works there are?
It's hard to talk aboutspecific ones, but yes, we have
many endeavors with privategroups in a variety of fields at
this point.
Ongoing.
LANDESS (10:24):
That's right.
WILLIS (10:24):
Okay, All right Now what are you most proud of so far as
the founding dean of the Schoolof Medicine?
What am I most?
There's so many things, mike.
It's difficult, but I think thegrowth and the fact that we've
been able to address our missionin the way that I thought we
were going to be able torecruiting kids from East Texas,
(10:44):
building programs right here.
So right now you can grow upand go to school from
kindergarten through college,through medical school, through
residency, all the way throughfellowship in almost every field
of need and stay right here inEast Texas, and the fact that
we've been able to create thatinfrastructure, both from
physical infrastructure, fromthe building to curricula, to
programs, to recruiting doctors.
(11:06):
It's the most inspiring thingI've ever done or seen to be a
part of and to have thatcommunity support and see it
become a reality.
I know it's a very generalanswer, but the way all of that
came together has beenabsolutely incredible.
Any final thoughts you'd liketo share and see it become a
reality?
I know it's a very generalanswer, but the way all of that
came together has beenabsolutely incredible.
LANDESS (11:20):
Any final thoughts you'd like to share?
WILLIS (11:21):
No, just I would love for people to stay engaged.
We have multiple ways that youcan become engaged with the
school, from our simulatedpatient programs to volunteering
opportunities, and we welcomethe community in every aspect.
LANDESS (11:33):
Thanks for listening as UT Tyler Radio connects with Dr
Brigham Willis, founding deanof the UT Tyler School of
Medicine.
For UT Tyler Radio News, I'mMike Landis.
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