SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 12, 2011) — Ten college students from Laredo and South Texas have been getting an in-depth look at the health professions this week through Make It Real Academy, a program of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio’s Regional Campus in Laredo.
The students came to San Antonio on Thursday and Friday to learn about dentistry, nursing, physician assistant studies, physical therapy, occupational therapy and other health professions from UT Health Science Center faculty members. Next week, the students will be back in Laredo learning about environmental health and going on rounds with health professionals at Doctors Hospital.
Annette Garza, a senior at Texas A&M International University applied to MIRA to learn more about becoming a physician assistant. “I love the program. It’s very interesting,” she said. “I want to help patients get better and get healthy. I like this program because we get to see all the different fields of medicine working together.” Garza is the daughter of Raquel and Abraham Garza of Laredo.
Among the activities was a tour Friday of the School of Nursing’s Clinical Skills Center. Manikins are programmed to demonstrate many different patient scenarios so that nursing students can practice their skills in a controlled environment before proceeding to a hospital setting.
Funding for MIRA is provided by the South Texas Outreach Foundation of Laredo.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled $228 million in fiscal year 2010. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $744 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.