UNTHSC School of Public Health

Harry · July 30, 2002

13:26 EDT Tuesday

UNTHSC School of Public Health gets accredited

The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth is now home to the state's third accredited school of public health.

The Council on Education for Public Health has awarded a five-year accreditation to UNTHSC's School of Public Health, putting it in the same company as the University of Texas and Texas A&M Health Sciences Center. UNTHSC is the 32nd university in the country to receive the accreditation.

"Accreditation means that outside reviewers have found our educational and research programs to be among the best in the country," Fernando Trevino, dean of the School of Public Health, said in a statement.

To be accredited, an institution must offer master's degrees in epidemiology, biostatistics, health management and policy, environmental and occupational health and social and behavioral sciences. It also must offer a doctoral degree in at least one of those disciplines.

UNTHSC offers doctorates in all but environmental and occupational health, but is considering offering that degree soon.

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"The most significant impact for students and graduates to qualify for jobs, fellowships and grants that require graduates from an accredited university," said Pat Evans, executive director of the Council on Education for Public Health.

In 1992, a steering committee of community leaders and health professionals proposed establishing a public health school in North Texas. UNTHSC launched a master's degree program in 1995 and established the School of Public Health in 1999.

This fall, the school will set an enrollment record of more than 200 students studying in its program. Another 36 students will be working toward doctorates of public health.

Construction also will begin this fall on a $27.5 million building to house the school and the biotechnology research programs at the health science center.

Web site: http://www.hsc.unt.edu.

ScreamingEaglesFan · July 30, 2002

The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth is now home to the state's third accredited school of public health.
The Council on Education for Public Health has awarded a five-year accreditation to UNTHSC's School of Public Health, putting it in the same company as the University of Texas and Texas A&M Health Sciences Center.

Why is texas Techs HSC not on the list? Also I know the NTHSC is an Ostropathic school anu idea why it isn't a medical school i.e graduates MD's instead or DO's?

GrayEagle · July 31, 2002

The article refers to accreditation for UNTHSC's School of Public Health. As pointed out in the posting the school must offer a master's degree in the six disciplines listed, plus a doctorate in at least one. Texas Tech either does not have a School of Public Health at their medical school or it has not yet been accredited.

MDs and DOs take the same test for licensing and are the only two doctors authorized to practice medicine in Texas. DOs perform surgery, specialize, and have family practices similarly to MDs. In some cases DOs and MDs are members of the same partnership. The major differences are DOs are more into preventive medicine and spine maniipulation.

The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine existed in Fort Worth before UNT considered establishing a medical school. When it was determined that more doctors were needed in the North Texas area (4+ million people; one medical school) it was determined that it was more cost effective to take over the existing TCOM than to build a new medical college. An agreement was worked out and TCOM got an infusion of capital and UNT got a medical school.

UNT96 · August 5, 2002

My wife graduated freom UNTHSC and she would just about kill you if you made the statement about it not being a medical school to her! DO and MD are basically the same thing, different philosophies on how to achieve results, but for the most part same thing. They take the same boards and are licenseds the same way. Neither has more proviledges than the other. In the past DO's were sonsidered mor geared towards family practice bu8t this trend has changed due to the move to specializations as pushed by the HMO's. I would be willing to bet that you have a DO as your doctor and on't even know it, most of us do. It is about 50/50 in Texas for licenses.

Reb UT '70 · August 5, 2002

I've had DO's for many years, and I'd never want to go back to a plain MD. Since I've also had back problems for years, it is the only way to go!

DeepGreen · August 5, 2002

I may be showing my ignorance on this subject, but I was under the impression that MD's spent a couple of years long in medical school/internship than a DO?

UNT96 · August 6, 2002

Deep,

Both DO's and MD's spend 4 years in medical school and then are required to do a one year internship and minimum of a two year residency for a total of 7 years. Some states (Texas included) used to let Family Practitioners get away with only a one year internship and then they could practice in a mentor type environment if they chose to do so without the residency. This applied to both DO's and MD's but was probably more used by DO's in the past. This all changed about 15 years ago and now all residents must complete the minimum 7 years.

Most programs require specialties afterwards (i.e. Surgery, Nephrology, etc) and this requires a clerkship after residency. My wife is a DO and is in her second year of residency at Methodist. She plans on practicing Nephrology (Kidney) for a one year clerkship when she is done.

So the long winded answer to your question is no.. there was no smaller amount of required time for DO's than MD's in the past for training. Just a lot of variables involved in medical training but they are now universal in most states.