WC, UNT Health at Fort Worth launch primary care pathway program
Weatherford College and UNT Health Fort Worth’s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine announced a partnership that provides students with an accelerated path to becoming an osteopathic physician during a signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon in Weatherford.
The new Primary Care Pathway Program will allow selected WC students to complete medical school through a seven-year 2+1+4 plan.
The program is designed to address the growing shortage of primary care physicians in rural and medically underserved areas across Texas. The first cohort of students is expected to begin at Weatherford College in the fall.
“As a graduate of both Weatherford College and the University of North Texas System, I am extremely excited that our shared students will now have a seamless pathway to become physicians,” said WC President Tod Allen Farmer. “These two noble institutions are doing great things for Texas.”
Christopher Ray, Ph.D., UNT Health’s provost and senior vice president, echoed Farmer’s excitement.
“We are thrilled to start this new pathway program with Weatherford College,” Ray said. “We all know there is a critical shortage of primary care providers in the state of Texas and in our rural communities. This pathway program is designed specifically to address those underserved areas and bring more primary care physicians into rural parts of Texas. There is no better medical school prepared for this than TCOM.”
According to data from Texas 2036 and the Texas Department of State Health Services, 224 of Texas’ 254 counties have shortages of primary care providers. Parker, Jack, Wise and Palo Pinto counties, from which WC draws many students, are among those experiencing shortages, with the problem expected to worsen. More than six million Texans currently live in a Health Professional Shortage Area.
“The shortage of primary care physicians in Texas is getting worse, and TCOM is stepping up to address this problem,” said Dr. Lisa Nash, TCOM dean and vice president for clinical affairs at UNT Health. “As a family physician, I know how important it is for communities to have access to primary care providers, and I’m so proud of this new partnership with Weatherford College. We are going to turn local students into local physicians who will serve their communities for years.”
Students will complete their first two years of undergraduate study at Weatherford College before transitioning to their third year at UNT Health’s College of Biomedical and Transitional Sciences in Fort Worth. After finishing their third year, students will enroll in TCOM at UNT Health as first-year medical students.
Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher during their undergraduate studies and complete the course requirements for both Weatherford College and UNT Health before matriculating to TCOM.