NTERI and HSC students continue critical eye screenings during pandemic

By Krista Roberts  The North Texas Eye Research Institute (NTERI) is making an impact in the community through free vision screenings and educational outreach. Through a collaboration with the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD), NTERI performs state-mandated eye screenings for students under age six and with special needs, helping identify vision disorders at a critical stage of their learning. “We know…

TCOM’s Primary Care Pathway Program pipeline to Midland opens this summer

By Steven Bartolotta This is the summer TCOM medical student Clarence Sparks has dreamed about — he gets to go home. Sparks isn’t taking time off from his medical school training though. He starts training rotations in his hometown of Midland as the first member of the Primary Care Pathway Program (PCPP) to become one-step…

The comeback from COVID begins

By Sally Crocker Ambiguity and adaptation may be the way of life in 2021 as COVID restrictions roll back across communities, says Scott Walters, PhD, Regents Professor at the HSC School of Public Health. “Clearly, the comeback will be phased in waves,” Dr. Walters said. “It won’t be as easy as flipping on a switch,…

HSC launches campaign focused on overcoming health disparities

By Alex Branch Health disparities exist all around us. They exist for the woman working two jobs who delivers a preterm baby after complications caused by chronic stress. The Texas farmer whose high blood pressure goes undetected because he can’t drive two hours to the nearest doctor. The young boy suffering life-threatening asthma attacks and living with a parent who smokes. The family besieged by diabetes caused by a diet of corner store food and soda. These are all different people…

At HSC, experts search for cures to ‘most aggressive form of brain cancer’

By Diane Smith-Pinckney Malignant brain tumors, known as glioblastoma multiforme, spread aggressively and are described as incurable. The five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with this cancer –  also known as GBM –  is only 6.8 % and the average length of survival for people with GBM is about 12 to 18 months, according to the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS). Experts at The University of North Texas Health Science Center…

TCOM students learning key Ultrasound technology, but also teaching it themselves

By Steven Bartolotta Louisa Weindruch saw what it could do in an emergency room. Cassidy Weeks recognized its value to rural health care. That’s why both students are striving to learn all they can about the emerging use of ultrasound technology to diagnose disease and potentially save patients’ lives. The pair of second-year Texas College of Osteopathic Medical students recently completed a study on the teaching technique that is fundamentally expediting…

Supporting students and community through the pandemic has been top priority for SPH Academic Services team

By Sally Crocker One year ago, COVID-19 turned the world upside down. Before the pandemic arrived, the HSC School of Public Health Academic Services department was in the usual zone, providing day-to-day resources and support to students, managing weekly “SPH Interlude” events with guest speakers and conversations around special topics, advising on internships and community…

City of Fort Worth Recognizes TCOM during National Osteopathic Medicine Week 

By Steven Bartolotta The City of Fort Worth recognized the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine on Tuesday with a proclamation celebrating National Osteopathic Medicine Week. TCOM Dean Dr. Frank Filipetto, along with first-year students Saanji Desai and Alex Frangenberg received the proclamation from City Council Member Dennis Shingleton, who recognized the impact of osteopathic medicine on the health care system.   “We are…

Tourniquet training pays off in emergency for HSC PA alum

By Alex Branch Emily Holloway (PA ’20) has sewn shut plenty of open wounds at the rural urgent care center where she works in on the East Coast. But she hadn’t encountered anything like the bleeding man who rushed through the clinic’s doors recently. He had sliced his arm open on broken glass. His hand and his shirt were…

TCOM Students Partner with TRHA for Big Bend Border Medical Mission Trip

By Steven Bartolotta and Mallory McMahon The Texas Rural Health Association chapter at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth spent spring break on their second annual Big Bend medical mission trip to west Texas. The TRHA student group worked with local rural community leaders, physicians, and churches to make the…