The Coastal Bend Health Education Center's Diabetes Education Program is pioneering highly effective diabetes education for the citizens of its 19-county area, while also training medical residents, dietetic interns and para-professionals. The center is also striving to make nursing recruitment a coordinated regional effort. The center's Continuing Medical Education Program offers a variety of annual conferences, workshops, and educational series for health care professionals. In addition, the center initiated its Peer-to-Peer Asthma Management Program, developed to educate physicians and staff on asthma care guidelines.

At the invitation of P.K. Carlton, M.D., director of homeland security for the A&M Health Science Center, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, M.D., along with Department of Homeland Security Director of Research and Development Maureen McCarthy, Ph.D., participated in a statewide "think tank" on homeland security in College Station in July 2003. The discussion focused on medical readiness, homeland security and new initiatives of first preparers, first responders and first receivers in Texas.

The Office of Special Programs at the School of Rural Public Health launched the Texas Training Initiative for Emergency Response (T-TIER), a continuing education program designed to offer training to individuals with responsibility for bioterrorism planning, preparedness and response. The School of Rural Public Health partnered with the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center and Texas A&M University's Integrative Center for Homeland Security to develop this initiative.

At its June 2003 meeting, the A&M System Board of Regents approved the establishment of the Rural and Community Health Institute (RCHI) at the HSC. Josie Williams, M.D., director of the HSC's Institute of Healthcare Evaluation: Quality and Patient Safety Initiatives and an assistant professor of internal medicine and family and community medicine in the College of Medicine, was appointed RCHI director. The institute's goals include coordination of training for health care professionals to increase the proportion choosing to practice in rural and underserved communities, research on rural health care delivery systems and enhancement of delivery of preventive health information.

The Brazos Valley Council of Governments, along with the Central Texas Area HIV/AIDS Planning Council, contracted with the Community Health Development Program at the School of Rural Public Health to complete a Continuum of Care report. The report examines the current and desired services available to individuals living with HIV in Austin, Bryan-College Station, San Angelo, Temple-Killeen and Waco.

Through Baylor College of Dentistry's Tooth Talk Program, third- and fourth-year dental students make educational presentations to almost 7,500 elementary, middle and high school students every year. Children in preschool through sixth grade receive information on oral hygiene, nutrition and effects of tobacco use. Dentistry as a career choice is included in presentations to middle and high school students.

The Institute of Biosciences and Technology began a new program with Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Tech) in summer 2003 to encourage Mexican medical students to integrate research into their future careers by giving them a taste of laboratory research. The students from Monterrey Tech were entering their third and fourth years of a seven-year medical training program when they came to IBT.

The Integrated Health Outreach System (IHOS) is a project of the School of Rural Public Health at the South Texas Center in McAllen. IHOS has trained 14 promotoras since the project began, opened clinics in Alton and San Carlos, established a transportation system to get colonias residents to the clinics or referral sites, and has also facilitated partnerships among several health entities.

Residents of the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center in Dallas are receiving consistent quality oral heath services through Baylor College of Dentistry's department of public health sciences. Children who are in the state's custody are required to have full medical and dental evaluations and necessary treatment. The college sees approximately 350 of these patients each month.

In March 2003 the College of Medicine hosted its Fourth Annual Open House in College Station for the community and for students interested in a career in medicine. Events included the 20th Annual American Heart Association Healthy Heart Run, an interview symposium for college students interested in knowing more about what to expect in a medical school interview and many other informative and entertaining activities.

The College of Medicine, the School of Rural Public Health and Scott & White are conducting a joint study looking at methods of identifying children at high risk for diabetes at the South Texas Center in McAllen. This project is targeting participants in Head Start Programs in rural communities in Hidalgo County to determine whether the Head Start Program is a logical place to screen for Type 2 diabetes and intervene to prevent or delay onset of the disease in high-risk individuals.

Baylor College of Dentistry's Tobacco Intervention and Education Clinic opened in January 2003 to aid individuals in quitting the use of tobacco products. Created and managed through the college's department of public health sciences, the clinic serves as an adjunct to student clinicians' tobacco intervention efforts. BCD is one of only a few dental schools in the nation and the only dental school in Texas that has a clinic devoted to tobacco cessation.

In February 2003, the College of Medicine's Class of 2005 collected snacks to send overseas to troops serving in Iraq. The project, nicknamed Operation TREATS (Troops Receiving Edibles as Thanks and Support) sent packages to a number of units deployed in the region.

Martha's Clinic is a clinic for indigent people in Temple that is staffed and managed by College of Medicine students and their mentors on the clinical faculty of the college. The clinic has been in operation since 1995. Medical students who volunteer at the clinic earn elective course credit for their work there. In addition to meeting the needs of underserved people in Central Texas, Martha's Clinic affords medical students an outstanding opportunity to learn about clinic operations and provide treatment for common medical complaints.

« Research Excellence | Table of Contents | Accomplishments »