Through individualized experiences in the third year — the hallmark of a curriculum created from scratch to turn future physicians into leaders — students make progress toward long-term goals and collaborate to improve health locally. A nine-month “Innovation, Leadership and Discovery” block affords the opportunity to complete a large, independent Distinction in Discovery and Inquiry project or dual degree. Students also continue clinical practice in primary care, family and community medicine with the option for other electives. Longitudinal courses in Developing Outstanding Clinical Skills, Interprofessional Education and Leadership continue.
The curriculum team continues to add distinction and dual degree offerings to the following opportunities, available now.
Distinction Options
Designing meaningful solutions to the current pressing needs in health care requires a variety of complex skills, including the ability to identify meaningful problems, design thinking to find creative solutions and entrepreneurship to implement them. Students actively learn the process of medical technology and process innovation by working with biomedical engineering graduate students in a structured and mentored experience. As part of the program, students identify concrete clinical needs and address them through technology.
Students work with faculty to design and implement a project from multiple options spanning the spectrum of research at The University of Texas at Austin or our clinical partners. Working in a rigorous scholarly environment with a faculty mentor, they develop skills for investigation and learn how to communicate findings.
With the goal of developing emerging physicians into community and social impact leaders, students learn about social innovation, entrepreneurship, capacity-building and how to leverage their knowledge of the health care system and medical expertise to improve health beyond the clinic. Students are taught how to move an idea for social impact from concept to reality, diversifying their skillset to include knowledge in areas such as program design, management, fundraising, impact evaluation and more.
Dual Degree Options
While earning a Master of Arts in design focused on health, students gain the core skills needed for the application of human-centered design as a force for innovation in the health care industry. The program grounds design education in real-world challenges by immersing students in the community for project work.
In collaboration with UT Austin’s College of Liberal Arts, the Master of Arts in humanities, health and medicine at Dell Med is designed to produce physician leaders who bring humanistic knowledge, skills and frameworks to their work caring for patients, collaborating with other health professionals and addressing challenges and opportunities within the health system.
An advanced understanding of business administration equips practitioners to better lead health transformation and adoption of value-based care.
A degree in educational psychology gives physicians insight and practical knowledge in human cognition, behavior, public health education and more — enhancing work to provide care and communicate effectively.
A joint effort with UT Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, this unique program prepares medical students to be effective policy and health care leaders in careers involving the design, development, evaluation and execution of local, state and federal health care policies.
A population health perspective helps physicians improve care models while engaging other sectors of the system that affect social determinants of health. Areas of study include epidemiology, environmental health, management, policy and community health, biostatistics, health promotion and behavioral sciences.
For students seeking to practice medicine and conduct biomedical research, this degree imparts the quantitative analytical skills of an engineer.
A collaboration aimed at producing physicians who can be leaders in addressing business challenges where medicine intersects with advancements such as blockchain, Internet of Things and machine learning. Students develop the foundational skills needed to contribute to innovative solutions in diagnostics, data analytics and precision medicine as big data and artificial intelligence play an increasingly vital role in health care.
Students will be responsible for Dell Medical School tuition during their third year, plus any additional tuition and/or fees associated with their choice of distinction option or dual degree.