They will speak to thousands of schoolchildren in hopes of encouraging the next generation of doctors
WHAT: To commemorate National Doctors’ Day, doctors from the School of Medicine of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio will fan out across the city and as far away as Laredo to tell schoolchildren their personal stories of how they were drawn to the profession and to talk about what it takes to become a doctor. Nearly 3,000 students will hear from more than two-dozen Health Science Center doctors.
WHEN: National Doctors’ Day: Monday, March 30, throughout the day.
WHERE: Twenty-one public and private schools in the greater San Antonio area and two schools in Laredo. The schools span 20 zip codes and nine public school districts.
WHO: Twenty-seven faculty speakers from the School of Medicine, representing a wide range of specialties: anesthesiology, family and community medicine, medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, otolaryngology, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology and surgery.
NOTES: Some possibilities for media coverage include:
• Lois L. Bready, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and associate dean for graduate medical education at the School of Medicine, who will speak at Pershing Elementary School (600 Sandmeyer St., San Antonio 78208) from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
• Luci K. Leykum, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and assistant dean for clinical programs at the School of Medicine, who will speak at Whittier Middle School (2101 Edison Drive, San Antonio 78201) from 9:20 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
• William L. Henrich, M.D., interim president of the Health Science Center, who will speak at Health Careers High School (4646 Hamilton Wolfe Road, San Antonio 78229) from 9:45 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.
• Robert L. Reddick, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology, who will speak at Health Careers High School (4646 Hamilton Wolfe Road, San Antonio 78229) from 10:25 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.
• Carlos R. Jaén, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, who will speak at the Healy-Murphy Center High School (618 Live Oak St., San Antonio 78202) from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• David J. Jones, Ph.D., associate dean for admissions and executive director for health science pipeline programs, who will speak at St. Augustine High School (1300 Galveston St., Laredo 78040) from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Dr. Jones also will speak at John B. Alexander High School Health Science Magnet (3600 Del Mar Blvd., Laredo 78041) from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $16.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $36 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 24,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.