HSC Outreach Highlights

Academic Units Highlights

• Baylor College of Dentistry
  Baylor College of Dentistry (BCD), in Dallas, is a nationally recognized center for oral health sciences education, research, specialized patient care and continuing dental education. As the largest single provider of oral health care services in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the college has combined higher education and research with community service for nearly a century.
• College of Medicine
  The mission of the College of Medicine is to educate caring and highly skilled physicians, as well as scientists, to advance knowledge in the biomedical and clinical sciences. Many community outreach programs at the college ensure that assistance is provided to those in need.
• Institute for Biosciences and Technology
• Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy
• School of Rural Public Health
  School of Rural Public Health The School of Rural Public Health (SRPH) focuses on the unique health needs of rural and underserved populations through education, research, outreach and creative partnerships. Students choose a concentration in one of six areas: epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy and management, social and behavioral health, environmental and occupational health, or community public health and management— and spend a semester of educational experience in a rural public health setting.

Regional Centers Highlights

• Coastal Bend Health Education Center
  The Coastal Bend Health Education Center provides health educational services and programs to the 19-county greater Coastal Bend area of Texas, including training of new and existing health professionals, providing health-related information and education to the public, increasing health career opportunities and encouraging health sciences research.
• South Texas Center
  The South Texas Center, located in McAllen, provides comprehensive and accessible public health education services and programs to residents of rural and underserved areas of South Texas. The center collaborates with area clinics, the Texas Department of Health and other regional organizations to support the work of community health workers and others in the area's colonias and elsewhere.

HSC Program Highlights

• Active for Life!
  The School of Rural Public Health's Active for Life! program has been established to fund projects seeking to deliver research-based physical activity programs to large numbers of midlife and older adults through existing community institutions such as community or senior centers, recreation centers, public health departments, housing authorities and religious institutions.
• Health Circus
  College of Medicine students were recognized by the Texas Department of Health for their Health Circus Program. It was described as the "most non-traditional, more unique program" of all programs providing immunization services. Health Circus is designed to educate rural communities about the importance of immunizations, regular health and dental care, better dietary habits and financial options for providing care for one's family.
• Martha's Health Clinic
  Martha's Health 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.
• Office of Homeland Security
• Rural and Community Health
  In June of 2003, The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved the establishment of the Rural and Community Health Institute (RCHI) at the HSC with the goal of reducing the shortage of health care professionals in rural communities and the disparity in health status between rural and urban communities through educational, research, and outreach programs. Josie Williams, M.D., leads the Institute, which utilizes expertise from within the A&M System Health Science Center's College of Medicine, Baylor College of Dentistry and School of Rural Public Health and its affiliated Family Practice Residency Program of the Brazos Valley; Texas A&M University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Business and College of Architecture; and Texas Cooperative Extension.
• Tackling Tobacco
  Through its various components, the Health Science Center is an active partner in a number of statewide and national programs involved in tobacco education and prevention, including the Spit Tobacco Prevention Network, Dental Oncology Education Program, Adolescent Tobacco Use Awareness and Cessation Program and Stand Tall Against Tobacco. The HSC's tobacco-related activities are showcased in a special informational website, Tackling Tobacco.