Welcome to the Department of Internal Medicine
For the first time, East Texas has its own medical school. As noted in the 2021 Health Status of Northeast Texas report, Northeast Texas has a higher mortality rate than the rest of Texas for heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease. If Northeast Texas were its own state, compared to the other 50 states in the U.S., we would rank 47th or lower for each of these causes of death. The reasons for these health disparities are numerous and complex, reflecting a combination of a higher prevalence of negative health behaviors (i.e., cigarette smoking) and reduced access to healthcare.
The department of internal medicine plays a pivotal role in achieving this ambitious vision of reducing health disparities. Serving as the largest department within the school, with more than 100 faculty members as well as seven approved residency and fellowship programs, we are also growing our research programs. Currently, we have multiple faculty who are leading NIH-funded research programs in the Department. We will continue to build on this success through recruitment of new faculty and establishing opportunities for our faculty and trainees to engage in clinical research.
