University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient visits per year, UT Southwestern is the largest medical school in the University of Texas System and the State of Texas.
UT Southwestern's operating budget in 2021 was more than US$4.1 billion, and is the largest medical institution in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex (and therefore North Texas region), annually training about 3,800 medical, graduate, and health professions students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows. UT Southwestern Research Programs amounted to US$634.9 million in 2022.
UT Southwestern's faculty also provide services at Scottish Rite for Children, VA North Texas Health Care System, and other affiliated hospitals and community clinics in the North Texas region. Faculty and residents provide care in more than 80 specialties to more than 100,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 4 million outpatient visits a year, including more than US$106.7 million in unreimbursed clinical services annually.
Through the major hospitals affiliated with UT Southwestern in the city of Dallas, the medical center also has a large presence throughout North Texas, including the cities of Coppell, Fort Worth, Frisco, Irving, and Plano.
UT Southwestern in Dallas has the largest medical residency program in the United States. In 2016, UT Southwestern began providing additional care through Southwestern Health Resources, a network combining the systems of Texas Health Resources and UT Southwestern. The network comprises 31 hospitals, 300 clinics, and more than 3,000 physicians and caregivers.
Under the leadership of Edward H. Cary and Karl Hoblitzelle, a group of Dallas citizens organized Southwestern Medical Foundation in 1939 to promote medical education and research in Dallas and the region. When Baylor University moved its school of medicine from Dallas to Houston in 1943, the foundation formally established Southwestern Medical College as the 68th medical school in the United States. Founded during World War II, the medical school was initially housed in a handful of abandoned barracks.
When a new state medical school was proposed after World War II, leaders of Southwestern Medical Foundation offered the college's equipment, library, and certain restricted funds to the University of Texas System, provided the university would locate its new medical branch in Dallas. The Board of Regents accepted this offer, and in 1949 the college became Southwestern Medical School of The University of Texas. In 1954 the name was changed to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. The present campus site on Harry Hines Boulevard was occupied in 1955 upon the completion of the Edward H. Cary Building. This placed the medical school faculty next to the then-newly built Parkland Memorial Hospital.
In November 1972 the name and scope of the medical school were changed with its reorganization into The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas. This provided for coordinated but separate medical, graduate, and undergraduate components.
In 1986 the Howard Hughes Medical Institute opened a research facility on the campus. Its investigators also hold faculty positions in the basic science departments of the Medical School and Graduate School.
In October 1987 the UT System Board of Regents approved changing the name of the health science center to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The Center consists of four degree-granting institutions: UT Southwestern Medical School, UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UT Southwestern School of Health Professions, and UT Southwestern O'Donnell School of Public Health.
Since the late 1960s the university has added more than 6 million square feet of new construction. The 60-acre South Campus includes 20 buildings housing classrooms, laboratories, offices, the extensive University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Library, an auditorium, and a large outpatient center. Affiliated hospitals adjacent to the campus are Zale Lipshy Pavilion, Parkland Memorial Hospital, William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, and Children's Medical Center Dallas, and Children's Medical Center Plano.
In 1987 the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation gave the university 30 acres (120,000 m) near the South Campus for future expansion. A 20-year master plan for the site, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and John MY Lee and Partners, called North Campus, called for six research towers, a support-services building, an energy plant, and underground parking, in addition to the Mary Nell and Ralph B. Rogers Magnetic Resonance Center and the Moncrief Radiation Oncology Center.
Three research towers and an elevated campus connector, linking the South Campus with the North Campus, were completed in the 1990s. A fourth 14-story research tower was completed in 2005, followed by a 12-story research tower in 2011. In 1999 the university purchased an additional 50 acres from the MacArthur Foundation, and a portion was used to create an on-campus student-housing complex of 156 apartments. A second phase of 126 units opened in 2004. In 2008, the university purchased the 24-acre Exchange Park adjacent to the North Campus.
In 2008, UT Southwestern announced plans to open the BioCenter at Southwestern Medical District, a facility to commercialize university technologies and attract biotech companies to the area.
Also in 2008, UT Southwestern acquired the Exchange Park site and renamed it the Paul M. Bass Administrative and Clinical Center on the North Campus. The center was named in honor of Mr. Bass, chairman emeritus of the Southwestern Medical Foundation, who served in that role until 2008. With this property, the campus grew to 9 million square feet of laboratory, clinical, educational, and administrative space, covering 387 acres.
In 2009, the $186 million Biomedical Research Building (NL Building on the North Campus) opened. The building is the largest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver-certified laboratory space in Texas. UT Southwestern opened its William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital on Dec. 6, 2014, along with the decommissioning of the 50-year-old St. Paul University Hospital. UTSW opened its Radiation Oncology center in 2017. In March 2022, a $100 million gift, made by the O’Donnell Foundation, endowed a new school of public health. It is the largest gift to any school of public health at a public university in the U.S.
In 2023, UT Southwestern announced a multi-billion dollar plan for a new pediatric campus for Children's Medical Center Dallas to be built in 2031 adjacent to the main university hospital.
In 2022, UTSW kicked off construction of a 296 psychiatric hospital south of the current Children's medical campus.
Major affiliations:
Annual patient visits to the Medical Center's clinics average 400,000 a year, up from 50,000 annually 15 years ago. This includes affiliated patient care facilities such as the UT Southwestern University Hospitals.
The Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center.
UT Southwestern is an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center, the highest level of certification. It is the only Joint Commission-certified Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center in North Texas, one of only three in Texas.
UT Southwestern is home to an NIH Alzheimer's Disease Center and is a Network of Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials Center.
The Doris and Harry W. Bass Jr. Clinical Center for Heart, Lung, and Vascular Disease is a collaborative effort between UT Southwestern faculty and community physicians.
The center's transplantation programs for heart, lung, kidney, and liver have been certified by the federal government's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
UT Southwestern is governed by the UT System Board of Regents. The Medical Center includes four degree-granting institutions/schools: UT Southwestern Medical School, UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UT Southwestern School of Health Professions, and UT Southwestern Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health. Throughout its history, UT Southwestern has graduated approximately 22,420 physicians and other professionals in all areas of medicine. In 2022 alone, UTSW faculty is training about 3,800 medical, graduate, and health professions students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows.
UT Southwestern admits approximately 230 students each year. The average MCAT score is 518, and undergraduate GPA in 2023 was 3.93. The acceptance rate for 2014 was 5.6%.
UTSW is one of the five least-expensive public medical schools and among the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. The school's tuition and fees are approximately $23,200 per year for in-state residents, being subsidized by the state of Texas. Admission is competitive and, by mandate of the state legislature, 90% of applicants admitted are from the state of Texas. Many out-of-state students earn competitive scholarships that make up the difference.
The Medical School's curriculum emphasizes clinical experience and electives from the first year on. The curriculum comprises three periods:
The UTSW curriculum focuses on providing a foundation in biomedical sciences, training in clinical care, and opportunities for research. The Medical School features six Academic Colleges that function as small learning communities, each headed by a faculty mentor.
Along with the M.D. degree, UT Southwestern offers options for students to pursue combined degrees and to earn special graduation distinctions. The combined degrees include:
With an enrollment of more than 1,000 students (549 predoctoral and 484 postdoctoral), the Graduate School educates biomedical scientists, engineers, clinical researchers, and counselors. Programs lead to Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Master of Science (M.S.) degrees and, in some cases, non-degree certificates.
The Graduate School has 12 Ph.D. programs: Biological Chemistry; Biomedical Engineering; Cancer Biology; Cell and Molecular Biology; Clinical Psychology; Genetics, Development, and Disease; Immunology; Integrative Biology; Molecular Biophysics; Molecular Microbiology; Neuroscience; and Organic Chemistry.
In addition, a Master's Degree and a certificate are offered in Clinical Science. Postdoctoral certificates are offered in Research, Advanced Research, Cancer, Educational Techniques, Obesity and Metabolism, and Scientific Management.
UT Southwestern runs a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) offering a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree. It is one of only 54 M.D./Ph.D. granting programs nationwide that receive financial support from the National Institutes of Health. The largest source of private support for UTSW's program has been from H. Ross Perot.
The clinical training curriculum includes coursework in the disciplines necessary to understand human disease at the level of cellular physiology and biochemistry. In addition, students practice clinical skills at UT Southwestern's affiliated clinical training hospitals, including Parkland Memorial Hospital and William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.
Following summer laboratory rotations, students choose one of 10 interdepartmental graduate programs and select a dissertation mentor from the UT Southwestern Graduate School faculty for training in intellectual and experimental strategies. During these years, the MSTP student functions as a graduate student in his or her laboratory while maintaining an awareness of clinical medicine through program activities.
Dissertation research culminates in results that significantly advance the state of biomedical knowledge.
About 340 students are enrolled in UT Southwestern's School of Health Professions. The school confers a doctoral professional degree in Physical Therapy and master's degrees in Clinical Nutrition, Physician Assistant Studies, Prosthetics-Orthotics, and Rehabilitation Counseling. The school also has a baccalaureate certificate program in Radiation Therapy.
The Physician Assistant program was founded in 1972. For the past five years, graduates have had a 100% first-time pass rate on the national certifying exam. Much of the training occurs at Parkland Hospital.
The Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health is UT Southwestern's newest school. The school was established in 2022.
UT Southwestern Medical Center is one of seven health systems in the United States being recognized for its leadership development initiatives to internal employees.
The Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center supports the information needs of UT Southwestern's research, educational, and clinical activities. The Library and Learning Center maintains a large collection of electronic information resources, print archives, rare books, and materials concerning the history of medicine. It also offers assistance and training in using these resources. The library also has a small branch on the North Campus.
UT Southwestern had a total research expenditure of $634.9 million in 2022. UT Southwestern scientists and physician researchers conduct investigations into cancer, stem cells, neuroscience, heart disease and stroke, arthritis, diabetes, and many other fields.
At the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute on campus, investigators research the basic molecular workings of the brain, and their application to the prevention and treatment of brain diseases and injuries. The Institute covers neurodegenerative diseases; depression and psychiatric disorders; migraines; and spine, nerve, and muscle diseases. Also at the Institute are voice specialists, rehabilitation experts, and neuroimmunologists, plus basic and translational scientists in cellular and molecular neuroscience, neurobiology, regenerative medicine, neuro-engineering, imaging, and genetics.
Researchers at UTSW's Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only cancer center in North Texas with the National Cancer Institute's "comprehensive" designation, are focusing on discovering drug-like chemicals that drive or inhibit cancer growth, and deciphering mechanisms in cell regulatory networks that go awry and contribute to cancer initiation and growth. Researchers in developmental biology, cancer biology, and stem cell biology work on how developmental processes contribute to cancer's progress.
In 2011, the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) was established as a joint venture between Children's Health System of Texas and UTSW. Located on the UTSW campus, CRI is home to an interdisciplinary group of scientists and physicians pursuing research in regenerative medicine, cancer biology and metabolism.
UT Southwestern established the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine in 2014 for research on fundamental mechanisms of tissue formation and repair, and to develop transformative strategies and medications for tissue regeneration.
Research at UTSW's Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair focuses on brain injuries and conditions, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. The institute also promotes brain injury education and prevention.
Other research currently underway at UT Southwestern includes studies on:
Seven UT Southwestern alumni or faculty members have been awarded Nobel Prizes. These are:
Among the notable faculty of UTSW are twenty four members of the National Academy of Sciences, eighteen members of the National Academy of Medicine, and fourteen Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators.