I would like to apologize to you again for taking the liberty of contacting you regarding the direction of our beloved institution, UNTHSC/TCOM, which may lead to the demise of TCOM and also affect the growth of our profession and our brand name. Somehow, I don’t know why I have been so involved into this issue. As you may recall of the letter I emailed you last August explaining the reasons, that letter is in the attachment.
I am writing to you on my own behalf as TCOM graduate of class 2002 and not on any anyone else’s behalf (Texas Osteopathic Medical Association or American Osteopathic Association.) Yes, I am a member of those associations, but do not hold any leadership position or do not seek any leadership position in a future because I don’t have the charisma and my English is broken in three. I am using the email list from the TOMA directory CD-Rom, previously mailed to all the members.
On Wednesday February 23rd, 2011, I will join the DOME day in Austin for the first time in my life from Peoria, IL. I am currently in my second year of practice, but Texas has a special place in my heart as I had lived and worked for a total of 14 years: Houston, Austin, College Station, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Aransas Pass, Beeville, McAllen, Harlingen, Brownsville, Rio Grande Valley, and Eagle Pass.
I would like to report to you of all the developments of the UNTMD proposal since my last letter in August 4, 2010. Please do not be mistaken that the following efforts as a way of self-promotion. I just would like you open your heart and take sometime from your busy life to study the issue and hope that you will take a few minutes to send the template letters, prepared by the TOMA, to your local legislators. These are found at TOMA Legislative Action Center http://capwiz.com/txosteo/home/
As you may have been lead to believe that the proposed MD option is a done deal and has received wide support of the local community. The so-called support does not translate into a real financial support for establishing a new medical school at free of cost to the state of TX for the next 5 years. Other new MD and DO schools all get more philanthropic donations from the local community. I and other DOs, who are opposed to the MD option, all want the best educational and clinical opportunity for our DO students.
- I published 6 Opinion-editorials in the local journals over the past 2 years.
- I developed a 39-page analysis of the proposed MD program at UNTHSC "A Cost Analysis of the Proposed MD Program at UNTHSC: Spending More and Getting Less." This is a well-researched and referenced document, which provides counter-arguments to the points offered in the business plan of the UNTMD proposal.
- I developed the "Essence of UNTMD proposal: Unwarranted and Prejudicial"
- I have established a new blog http://www.eyedrd.org/ to provide a forum for discussion of a wide range of issues related to medical/osteopathic medicine, eye health, societal and international affairs. In less than four months of its inception, it has generated more than 23,300 page-views, and is ranked “#819,545 in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings, and the site has attained a traffic rank of 135,217 among users in the US." You may want to take a look at this site to learn more about the UNTMD issues: financial donations, economic impact, research potential, medical curriculum difference or less, exodus of faculty members, morality of the students who performed poorer on the national boards than previous years, addressing physician shortage in Tarrant County or Texas, etc...
The process of the MD study group was a farce as the outcome was pre-determined. The initiative began behind the scene in 2006 when Dr. Ransom took over the presidency of UNTHSC; the initiative was not started at the end of 2008 as claimed. Perhaps, Dr, Ransom was hired with a goal of establishing an MD school on campus in exchange for the most generous salary offered compared to his predecessors and his current peers in Texas. The process was biased and the debate was suppressed.
http://www.eyedrd.org/2010/11/second-medical-school-in-fort-worth-is.html (merits of a second medical school in Fort Worth.)
http://www.eyedrd.org/2011/02/past-unthsc-president-spoke-out-on.html (Ronald Blanck, past UNTHSC president came out of his reserve.)
http://www.eyedrd.org/2011/02/informed-citizens-need-to-look-beyond.html (media bias and the behind the scene of the conclusions by PriceWaterhouse-Coopers (PW-C) and then Deloitte – Touche, consulting firms.0
http://www.eyedrd.org/2010/12/caveat-emptor-personal-ambition-is-not.html(satire about what is wrong with the current DO school?)
http://www.eyedrd.org/2010/11/unthsc-presidents-compensation-outpaces.html(Dr. Ransom’s salary and administration.)
http://www.eyedrd.org/2010/12/dr-stoll-dr-ransoms-inappropriate.html http://www.eyedrd.org/2010/12/dr-scott-stoll-exposed-untrufullness-in.html (Dr. Scott Stoll resigned from all of his positions at UNTHSC: OMM chair, Physical Medicine Institute Director, UNT health group board, and tenured full-professorship.)
http://www.eyedrd.org/2011/02/philanthropic-donations-to-new-medical.html (Philanthropic donations in other communities.)
http://www.eyedrd.org/2011/02/response-from-md-professor-at-unthsc-to.html (this is a new face of TCOM.)
http://www.eyedrd.org/2010/12/analysis-of-informal-polling-results-of.html (an unscientific polling shows the majority of young MD students support the potential change of the degree title DO to MD, DO if our profession chose to do so. This explains camaraderie among the younger MDs and DOs as 20% medical students are DO students.)
The focus of establishing a new medical school and suppression of opposing views have already caused the harm to the morality and education of the current TCOM students. TCOM had been consistently scoring the highest on COMLEX boards (Step I,II,and III) over the past several years. Recent TCOM classes have been getting younger and smarter every year in terms of GPAs and MCAT scores compared to the previous classes. However, the latest COMLEX Level 1 and 3 board scores have dropped significantly and TCOM may not be the number one anymore. Large exodus of good DO professors have been forced out and 2/3rd of the current faculty members are MDs.)
The above links from http://www.eyedrd.org/ would give you a different perspective on this issue. I am urging you to take a stand against discrimination and prejudice as implied in the current proposal. Our interest is that producing quality DOs will make our brand a household name sooner.
Personally, I am not opposed to an MD school in Fort Worth or even on UNTHSC campus if there were $1.5 billion investment to make UNTHSC a medical center like Seton Hospital System in Austin is planning on doing. So you can see that $25 million pledges...draw your own conclusion. TCOM will be a cash cow that would lead to its demise. Let's ask if UNTHSC had already had a MD school, would the administration be pushing to create a DO school on campus to respond to the shortage in Tarrant County?
The above commentaries are based on facts published in peer-reviewed journals. Recently, TOMA commissioned an independent consulting firm to review the UNTMD’s business plan, I am attaching the findings by JMWatt consulting firm for your review. JMWatt firm was used by the future medical school in South Texas and the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix.
I hope you would take a few minutes to help us to protect and preserve the excellence of UNTHSC by contacting your local legislators. You can find the template letters at Texas Osteopathic Medical Association's Legislative Action Center http://capwiz.com/txosteo/home/
Best regards,
Tayson DeLengocky, DO
Vitreo-retinal Surgery
Neuro-Ophthalmology
Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at UICMP
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