North Texas Daily

Evan McAlister | Staff Writer

@evan_McAlister

The recent hire of Dr. Stuart Flynn as the new dean of the UNTHSC and Texas Christian University medical school reflects Texas’ allure on talent across the nation.

Dr. Stuart Flynn | Courtesy

From the outset, planners from both UNTHSC and TCU sought to alleviate Texas’ shortage of medical doctors. Flynn wants to grow and develop a program focused on teamwork, patient-centric and business-minded to transform Texas healthcare for generations.

“UNTHSC, TCU and Fort Worth provide all the ingredients needed to develop a cutting-edge medical school with national aspirations,” Flynn said. “Texas has such a huge shortage of physicians. We must increase the number residencies to keep up with the demand for general physicians.”

Texas’ physician shortage is widely reported, thanks in part to a Texas Medical Association report that stated the Lone Star State needs to invest more in medical schools and residency training programs. The study, “Healthy Vision 2020,” said many medical school graduates in Texas leave the state because they cannot find residency programs here.

Students back in Denton said UNT System’s growth is encouraging and reinforces the university’s claims to prominence.

“I feel like we’re on a good progressive and modern track and keeping up with the student body needs,” fashion merchandising junior Sky Hardy said.

Flynn is the current and founding dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine at Phoenix, where he lives with his wife and children.

Flynn graduated from the University of Michigan in 1979 and completed his fellowship at Stanford University. After completing his medical training, he went on to teach pathology and surgery at Yale University School of Medicine. He said Yale and similar establishments don’t face the same issues the UNT-TCU medical school will have to deal with.

“Yale is over 200 years old, so they don’t face the same challenges but we also have the chance at UNTHSC to build a new curriculum that will change Texas’ health care for years to come,” Flynn said. “Though Yale is widely renowned for its medical program, they have a hard time with change. We won’t.”

Flynn helped create the curriculum and guided the Arizona College of Medicine through a complex accreditation process. He also helped grow the school from a flagship class of 24 to 80 students, Flynn said.

“I want to be a general care physician,” biology freshman Bianca Bahizi said. “Having a dean that is making it his priority to increase general care makes me so excited to graduate and continue my education here at UNT.”

Flynn will be joined by his family in Texas after the school year finishes. He said that his wife’s support is the final stamp of approval that will make the transition to Texas much easier.

“The family is excited to be in Fort Worth and help with the new house,” Flynn said. “I wouldn’t call it a vacation because if my wife heard that, she’d probably kill me. But to move as a family is so special.”