UT System plans a fast track through medical school - Austin American-Statesman

University of Texas officials believe they have an antidote for aspiring physicians daunted by four more years of college after earning a bachelor's degree: Shave off a year or two.

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About 20 of the 135 U.S. accredited medical schools offer some sort of shortcut to graduation, including Texas Tech's in Lubbock, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Tech's program, which started this month, is aimed at increasing the dwindling supply of primary care doctors by targeting future family practice physicians. A student can skip the fourth year of medical school and receive a year's worth of scholarships, cutting the average four-year debt of $150,000 in half, said Dr. Ron Cook, interim chairman of family medicine at the school.

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