Laredo college graduates are taking advantage of the Laredo Early Acceptance Program to be admitted into UT Health San Antonio graduate programs. The first four students will be admitted this fall.
The initiative, begun in 2017, is a collaboration between the School of Health Professions and Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), based in Laredo.
Successful students in the LEAP program have the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree from TAMIU’s College of Arts and Sciences and then enter one of five School of Health Professions programs.
Austin Fierro and Alexa Alvarez will enter the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, Carolina Gomez Salinas has been accepted into the Master of Physician Assistant Studies program and Eduardo Siller will go into the Master of Science in Medical Laboratory Sciences program.
First-time TAMIU freshmen who join the program receive guidance on prerequisite courses, acceptable volunteer work and grade point averages needed to meet the graduate school entrance requirements.
“This is like a road map to a graduate program for successful students,” said David Henzi, Ed.D., associate dean for academic and student affairs in the School of Health Professions. “Not only will they benefit from cost savings by taking exactly the right courses for admittance, but they will be entering a health care field with excellent job prospects that is needed in the Laredo area,” Dr. Henzi said.
Additional graduate degree programs included in the LEAP program are a Master of Science in Respiratory Care and Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.
To learn more about the application process, Laredo students can contact Dr. Michael Kidd, TAMIU’s pre-health professions adviser at (956) 326-2585, michael.kidd@tamiu.edu or Melinda Benavidez, director of admissions in the School of Health Professions, at (210) 567-6220, benavidezm2@uthscsa.edu.