million people. When the school opened, West Texas had one physician for every 1,300 residents. Currently, the ratio is about one physician for every 750 residents. Students spend their first two years of study in Lubbock and their last two years studying in Amarillo, Odessa or Lubbock. A self-proclaimed major initiative for the school is to "recruit creative, innovative research faculty and to develop graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for lifelong careers in medical research."
=== School of Nursing ===
The school has campuses in Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, Dallas, and Odessa, with additional learning sites in Mansfield, San Antonio, and Austin; and it educates more than 1,000 students each year. Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in nursing are issued by the school. The School of Nursing offers the only Doctor of Nursing Practice program in West Texas. The school is known for its alternatives to traditional educational opportunities including online coursework for a registered nurse to obtain …