With primary campus locations in Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center offers a broad spectrum of medical and graduate healthcare degree options on both ends of the state.
One area of Tennessee, however, has been noticeably missing when it comes to a major health education presence by the state’s flagship public university. The recent announcement of an expanded partnership between UTHSC and Saint Thomas Health is set to change that with additions to the Nashville campus that will dramatically increase UT’s educational and training offerings in Middle Tennessee.
UTHSC, headquartered in Memphis, has more than 100 clinical and educational sites across the state, including a number of clinical rotation and residency sites in Middle Tennessee. However, the bulk of the educational programs have been housed in Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.
Current Campus Sites
Memphis: In 1911, the University of Tennessee launched its Memphis campus, dedicating it solely to health science education and research. Today, the main campus houses each of the UTHSC’s six colleges – Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Almost 2,700 students are now enrolled at UTHSC, and there are more than 45,000 alumni who have received medical and advanced degrees from the six colleges. More than 75 percent of dentists and 40 percent of dentists practicing in Tennessee are UTHSC graduates.
Chattanooga: The University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga is one of three statewide campuses providing medical student and postgraduate physician education. UTCOM Chattanooga has 10 residency programs and nine fellowships with 172 active residents in training. Additionally, nearly 100 medical students complete a portion of their third and fourth year clinical training in Chattanooga annually. In addition, UTC offers multiple health science graduate programs through the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies.
Knoxville: The largest undergraduate campus, UTK also houses multiple graduate programs in research and the health sciences. In 2007, a second UT College of Pharmacy building opened on the Knoxville campus and now enrolls 40-50 students annually. Knoxville is also home to the Health Science Center’s Graduate School of Medicine. The College of Health Professions has maintained its Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology in Knoxville for more than six decades, and UTK also features graduate nursing programs including MSN, DNP and PhD programming to prepare nurses for advanced practice roles.
Nashville: UTHSC has entered into a core teaching hospital partnership with Saint Thomas Health. Although still in early stages, the expectation is that there will be a role for all six of UTHSC’s colleges on the new Nashville Saint Thomas clinical campus when the program reaches maturity. Residency programs are already in place but will greatly expand. In 2014, the College of Pharmacy converted its existing Nashville Clinical Education Center into a major academic site allowing up to 40 student pharmacists from each of the second-, third-, and fourth-year classes to complete their curriculum in Nashville.
Middle Tennessee Expansion
In an announcement made last month, UTHSC plans as much as a $40 million investment in Middle Tennessee in partnership with Saint Thomas Health. Current speculation calls for the Nashville campus to be built adjacent to Saint Thomas West on approximately six acres of land.
Jessica Wells, vice president of Medical Education for Saint Thomas Health, noted, “The university is a statewide institution but has been noticeably missing in the Middle Tennessee area.” However, she added, that has been changing as the UTHSC/Saint Thomas Health partnership has grown. Wells stated, “Saint Thomas and the university are committed to providing that presence here and doing whatever we need to collaboratively work through the process.”
Currently, Middle Tennessee has five residency programs at Saint Thomas Health hospitals in general surgery, family medicine, emergency medicine, internal medicine and obstetrics/gynecology. The first four programs have received accreditation, and Wells said the expectation is that the OB/GYN program will be accredited by the end of this month.
“Right now there are about 22 residencies,” Wells said. “That will grow to about 115 at full complement.” She added that while medical residencies have been Saint Thomas Health’s first priority, attention is now expanding to the full continuum of healthcare providers trained by UTHSC.
Wells said Saint Thomas launched a physician assistant residency program at the beginning of January and is looking at adding or expanding educational and clinical opportunities for a host of other disciplines such as dentistry, nursing, lab technicians, dental hygienists, nurse practitioners and physical therapists.
However, she noted, “That’s a multi-year planning process to be able to build the infrastructure and the capabilities to provide all of that in Middle Tennessee.”
The hope also is that medical students might be able to complete part of their education in Middle Tennessee … whether that be just spending their final year in Nashville or perhaps more. Similarly, preliminary discussions are already underway to establish a Nashville presence for the College of Dentistry as part of the expanded partnership.
Wells said Saint Thomas Health sees the expanded UTHSC relationship as nothing but complementary to partnerships the health system already has in place with Marian University and Aquinas, as well as its relationships with other local universities including Belmont, Lipscomb, and Vanderbilt.
“We are really a community-focused institution who believes in training the next generation of providers to care for people in the community in our mission of holistic and reverent care,” Wells said. “For those who want to live and work in Middle Tennessee, this just gives us another training opportunity.”
Chancellor Addresses Speculation in Memphis
The excitement over the Nashville expansion led some to worry about what that might mean for the main campus in Memphis. Chancellor Steve Schwab, MD, was quick to allay any fears and reiterate previously announced growth would continue on the main campus. He also stated unequivocally that Memphis would continue to be, as it has been for more than a century, the home campus for UTHSC.
In a statement released Jan. 9, he said, “Recently, there has been substantial media coverage of the long-planned UTHSC Nashville expansion. This coverage has been driven by announcement of the accreditation of the College of Medicine/Saint Thomas Health Advanced Residency Programs in surgery, emergency medicine, and family medicine, as well as the anticipated OB/GYN program approval and growth of our long-standing internal medicine program in Nashville.”
Schwab continued, “In tandem with the media coverage, there has been editorial speculation about what the Nashville expansion means for the UTHSC home campus in Memphis. As we have clearly stated, this means ongoing expansion for the Memphis home campus with the continuation of more than $300 million in upgrades as outlined in the recently released UTHSC Campus Master Plan. It is our expectation that our Nashville site will grow to mirror the size and scope of the UTHSC Knoxville Campus with all the UTHSC colleges having some form of clinical training, as well as the College of Pharmacy offering didactic education.”
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