Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/937773
t m c ยป p u l s e | f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 8 33 to students in 2009 and has a similar focus on community-oriented, primary care. "We want our students immersed in this," said Pedro Greer, M.D., associate dean for community engagement and professor and chair of the depart- ment of humanities, health, and society at FIU medical school. "They need to know how to put these teams together when they start practicing. It's not the doc- tor's responsibility to solve the patient's housing issue, but they need to know how to put a team together who can." Third, UH aims to create a culture that values primary care. That means recruiting faculty members who buy into the mission. "It's not okay for any of the faculty to say (to a student), 'You're too smart to be a primary care doctor,'" Spann said. "Believe me, that happens." Eventually, UH wants to be known nationally for producing doctors who have a deep understanding of health disparities, who know how to work in commu- nities to improve health and health care, and who are experts in providing "high value" health care, school officials say. That's exactly the right approach, said Molly Cooke, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. Cooke has written extensively on ways medical schools can modernize, and her work has influenced some of UH's plans. UH has a unique opportunity, she said, since it's difficult for existing schools to adapt their curricula and culture to changing times. "From my perspective, knowing medical education fairly well, you're seeing more interesting things going on at the new medical schools than the legacy medical schools, by and large," Cooke said. UH expects to enroll its first class of 30 medical students in August 2020, and to have a full entering class of 120 students by 2024. But there are many milestones ahead. The school must win approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as well as the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the national accrediting body for medical schools. UH also has to recruit students and faculty, fundraise, and receive state appropriations. (continued) Stephen Spann, M.D., on the University of Houston campus.