Celebrating Accomplishments and Success

This will be my last Message from the Dean as I am retiring from the Founding Dean position at the end of August. It has been a real joy to serve the University of Houston over the past nine years, first as Planning Dean (September 2015 to February 2018) and then Founding Dean (February 2018 to August 2024). I enjoyed the unique opportunity to lead the planning, design and building of a new medical school with a special mission: to improve the health and health care of the population of Greater Houston, Texas and beyond. This has truly been a team effort, and I am extremely grateful for all of those who have participated in the effort. Leaders from across the University served on the Internal Advisory Committee that carried out the initial planning. In 2018 we began to recruit the initial leadership team for the new medicals school, including Associate Deans and Department Chairs, who began to develop the curriculum and recruit the rest of the initial faculty who began arriving in 2019. We submitted our first application for LCME accreditation in the Fall of 2019 and had our survey team visit in November, receiving notice of preliminary accreditation in February 2020 which allowed us to start recruiting the first class of 30 students to enroll that July

Early in our recruitment process the COVID pandemic hit, and we had to switch to virtual applicant interviews, and by the time the first class started on July 20th the pandemic was peaking and we had to conduct most of the instruction that year online; what a challenge! Despite the challenges, our College continued to grow; we doubled the size of our third class to 60 students as we moved into our beautiful new medical education building in July 2022. We have continued to grow our faculty, work on improving our curriculum and the teaching of our students, build our research programs, provide primary care and behavioral health care to patients in our area, and engage with our community. Our first class graduated last May and every student matched in a residency program. Much more remains to be done to achieve our initial vision for the College of Medicine, but we have made great progress to date. I am very grateful to our faculty, our staff, our amazing students and the broader UH community for all your support in helping us to come this far. I am confident that you will continue your hard work under the leadership of Dean Jonathan McCullers who will take the reins on September 1st. I will miss you but hope to stay in touch.

- Steve Spann

Learn about the experiences of Susan Guajardo, a first year medical student, as she begins her journey.

Why did you choose to attend the College of Medicine?

"Simple. Its mission! I deeply resonate with the mission’s focus on delivering high-value care to underserved communities! Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley, I was able to see the direct impact lack of access to health care had on my surrounding community. From the day I interviewed with the College of Medicine I knew this would be the perfect match for me because I want to be the change I wish to see in my own community!"

What has the first month of medical school been like so far and what would you like to share with your colleagues?

"The first word that comes to mind is, adjustment, but also exciting, while simultaneously stressful! From adjusting to a new bigger city, to planning dinners and hangouts with my new classmates, I have enjoyed every step of this new journey! I have learned so much not only in my lectures or in the clinic, but also outside while studying and struggling to figure it all out!

Two special characteristics I value from the Class of 2028 is our authenticity & community. We are unapologetically ourselves, we will voice our questions when we do not understand something or will share any resources so that we can all benefit. Our sense of community was obvious from the start of orientation and was solidified when we came together as a class and wrote our own Hippocratic Oath. Whether playing ping pong in the student lounge during our five-minute class breaks or studying in the whiteboard study rooms or our learning communities, our class has become so tight knit in a short period of time, I truly feel like I have known these people for a lifetime!"

Fun Facts About Susan

Some fun facts about myself are that I was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley and I love sunrises and sunsets at the beach. I’ll make any excuse to spend time with family and friends and will do Pilates & Hot Girl Walks until the end of time. I am always down to try any coffee shop!