History of the School

The University of Texas School of Allied Health Sciences (SAHS) at Galveston became the first allied health professions school in the Southwest when it opened its doors in 1968. Since then, the school has graduated nearly 6,000 health care practitioners, most of whom work in the health care industry. More importantly, most SAHS alumni practice in Texas, fulfilling the school's goal to help meet the ever-increasing health care needs of the state's residents.

The teaching environment of the school supports its educational purpose. The UTMB medical complex serves as one autonomous learning laboratory for all students. UTMB's six hospitals and 93 outpatient clinics, emergency room, and research laboratories are an integral part of allied health education. The four-story School of Allied Health Sciences/School of Nursing Building, which opened its doors in 1986, houses state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratories, multipurpose auditoria, a Learning Resource Center, student lounge, cafeteria areas, and faculty and administrative offices.

SAHS students take advantage of the Moody Medical Library, one of the largest and most modern medical libraries in the Southwest. The Truman G. Blocker, Jr. History of Medicine Collection, for example, features thousands of rare medical books, prints, historic microscopes and medical instruments, and other medical memorabilia.

About UTMB

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is a major academic medical center dedicated to the generation, dissemination and application of knowledge to better the health of society.

UTMB first opened its doors to 23 students and 13 faculty on Oct. 5, 1891. The campus consisted of just two buildings: one for classroom instruction, and the original John Sealy Hospital as the clinical training site. Since that time, the university has grown to encompass 51 major buildings on its 84-acre main campus, as well as numerous off-campus sites in Galveston and clinic sites throughout East and coastal Texas.

Education

UTMB fulfills its educational mission through its School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Allied Health Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Marine Biomedical Institute and Institute for the Medical Humanities. In addition to undergraduate, graduate and medical degrees, the university offers a combined M.D./Ph.D. program.

The university’s curricula emphasize the creation of a diverse work force of health professionals who can work as a team to better the lives of their patients and their communities. The university is renowned for its success in recruiting and retaining students from underrepresented groups, so that the diversity among future health care workers will more closely match that of the patients they will serve.

In its 109-year history, UTMB has graduated more than 23,000 health professionals and scientists. In fact, it is estimated that one in four Texas physicians who received their medical degree from a Texas university were trained at UTMB. More than 2,500 students and residents are currently enrolled in UTMB programs, which are taught by the university’s 2,200 faculty. In addition, numerous continuing education activities sponsored by the university keep practitioners up-to-date on the latest advances in their fields.

Patient Care

UTMB is a health care system that offers patients from the state, nation and world a comprehensive approach to quality care. Services range from primary care to the specialized diagnostic and treatment resources found only at the nation’s largest teaching, research and clinical care centers. In 1999, the university recorded more than 33,000 inpatient admissions and more than 753,000 outpatient visits, and provided $132 million in unsponsored charity care to patients whose needs were great but whose resources were limited.

In addition to its network of hospitals and clinics, UTMB features a sophisticated Emergency Room, hyperbaric facility, and a specially equipped Children’s Emergency Room. UTMB has also been designated a Level I Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons and serves as the lead trauma facility for a 10-county region stretching from Brazoria County to Jasper County.

Areas of clinical excellence at the university include gerontology, cardiology, behavioral health, telemedicine, hyperbaric medicine, aerospace medicine, and care of special populations, including women and children, the indigent, and patients in prison settings. UTMB also offers a wide range of transplant services.

Outpatient facilities include the Primary Care Pavilion on the UTMB campus and an extensive network of off-campus clinics that provide primary and specialty care to communities throughout the state. In addition, UTMB operates The Residence, a facility that allows women with high-risk pregnancies requiring frequent monitoring to live in a homelike environment just minutes from the university’s patient care complex.

Research

Biomedical research at UTMB delves into a broad range of promising topics that often have immediate application to patient care. Current areas of research excellence include neuroscience, environmental health, gastrointestinal health, and new and resurgent infectious diseases, including tropical diseases.

Research at UTMB is multidisciplinary, with basic scientists, clinicians and students working together to share information, facilities and other resources. In addition, a series of multidisciplinary research centers of excellence address cancer, environmental toxicology, structural biology, molecular sciences, aging and molecular cardiology.

The vibrant research environment at UTMB has enabled the university to attract an increasing number of federal grants. More than $84 million in government grants were recorded by the university in fiscal year 1999, in addition to nearly $19 million in grants and contracts from other sources.  

Community

In addition to being a leading academic medical center, UTMB prides itself on being a good neighbor in its community. Each year, thousands of UTMB employees and students invest in their communities by volunteering their personal time and talent to individuals, organizations and causes. And, just as the university meets the health care needs of its patients, its presence has a strong positive impact on the health of local economies.

UTMB is a professional home to some 13,000 employees and has an annual budget of approximately $1 billion. Local jobs attributable to UTMB, either directly or indirectly, number well over 18,000, while regional jobs attributable to the university number nearly 36,000.