The University of North Texas Health Science Center and Texas Christian University, both located in Fort Worth, have partnered to open a new medical school by 2018, according to a Denton Record-Chronicle report.
Discussion of the privately-funded project began in March, but UNTHSC president Michael Williams began exploring the opportunity in 2009. The UNT Board of Regents officially approved the partnership on July 6.
Although the project is a collaboration, degrees issued from the new medical school will not contain the UNTHSC name. A bill passed in 1993 forbids UNTHSC from awarding MD degrees. President Williams said he hopes the law can be reversed by 2017.
Classes will be held at both campuses, which are less than three miles apart, according to a Star-Telegram report. The schools expect to have as many as 60 new students by the fall of 2018. The universities have yet to choose a name for the medical school.