Professor turnover at UTRGV medical school sparks student concerns

Students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine are in an uproar over physician professor turnover after learning that one of their professors is departing along with others, leaving them concerned about the effectiveness of their training.

This comes after a professor told students they would be leaving the university along with some of their fellow professors due to what they were told was a restructuring.

They fear this restructuring led to the dismantling of the department of anesthesiology and may be followed by other departments, a med school student with knowledge of the matter told MyRGV.com.

That student spoke under anonymity to protect their status with the institution, fearing retaliation, in hopes of calling for transparency.

“Unfortunately, lack of transparency is a theme across the school in all kinds of aspects, so for it to extend to this area doesn’t surprise me,” the student said in an interview.

They said that as of 2022 more than 60 of the school’s 104 physicians, or MD professors, have departed. These professors particularly are valuable to their education because they’re MDs, the student said.

“What happens in years one and two in our classroom curriculum, when we don’t have an MD professor their topic just gets picked up by a PhD professor, or it’s just not covered at all and we just miss out on that clinical-specific perspective,” said the student.

Courses are classroom-based during the first two years of med school while the third and fourth years are hospital- and clinic-based.

Although the student believes a balance of both PhD and MD professors is important, an MD professor brings a “unique clinical perspective” by providing insight into how one can practically apply their knowledge in the field.

It is for these reasons that the student said they felt “shocked,” “blindsided” and “outraged” by these professors being “let go.”

When asked about the turnover and student concerns that have followed, UTRGV spokesman Patrick Gonzalez issued a statement Monday afternoon saying the departure of clinical faculty in 2022 occured after two local hospitals ended their affiliation agreement with the School of Medicine to start their own residency programs. 

Despite the departure of clinical faculty, Gonzalez said in the statement that the institution’s turnover still matches that of other medical schools nationwide.

He added that since then the school had hired more faculty. 

“Over the same period, we have recruited 30 new full‑time faculty, onboarded 74 community clinicians, ensuring ample instructors for every lecture, skills session, and clerkship for our medical students,” the statement said.

A view of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine campus in Harlingen. (Courtesy: David Pike/UTRGV)

The statement did not specify, however, how many of the new hires are MDs.

“Honestly it just makes me sad for our future patients anywhere, because we’re going to go to all places hopefully, not just the Valley. And somewhere down the line someone is going to suffer from this,” the student said.

Students also expressed concerns in an LCME accreditation survey in February, about their school’s staffing as well as gaps in the curriculum.

By cutting more staff this puts the institution’s accreditation at risk, according to the LCME’s standards for functions and structure of a medical school, which states that an institution is required to have “a sufficient cohort of faculty members …”

“We already have such bad care (in the Rio Grande Valley) and then we’re training future generations of physicians to hopefully come back to the Valley, and they’re already that much more at a disadvantage,” the student said. “It hurts my heart that really the ultimate people who are going to suffer are the patients.”

Citing a national accrediting team, UTRGV said in its statement that the clinical faculty’s turnover “was predominantly the result of these changing clinical affiliations and our students’ education and clinical training remain uncompromised.”

“Later this month we will graduate our sixth class, bringing our total physician alumni to more than 300 since opening in 2016,” the statement further read. “Finally, all our Graduate Medical Education programs are in good standing with their accrediting national body (ACGME).”

Attempts to reach the School of Medicine Student Government Association for comment were unsuccessful as of deadline.

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