The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health is awarding San Antonio’s newest medical school a grant of more than $400,000. The University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine will use the money to tackle mental health issues on the city’s south side.
Physical illness isn’t eliminated with simple clinical intervention. That’s the philosophy of UIW’s new osteopathic medical school, which plans to send its students into the community to work with families in District 3, the south side where the campus is located.
Director of Public Health for the School, Anil Mangla, MS, Ph.D., MPH, FRSPH, said these future doctors will be addressing depression, stress and anxiety as well as blood sugar levels and amputation risk. "And if we can assist patients in getting their mental health in control, that indirectly may also help their chronic health," he added.
Osteopathic doctors embrace a holistic approach to health. Life expectancy in south San Antonio is years less than on the north side of the city.
Mangla says his school is on a mission to make an impact on this glaring disparity.
"Economically, there’s a large amount of poverty," Mangla pointed out. "It’s almost 70 to 75 percent Hispanic. And so that’s the population that is at highest risk when we look at data on diabetes."
Construction crews manning Bobcats and backhoes continue work on the campus at Brooks. 162 students will come to the new campus for orientation later this month. Classes start August 1, 2017.
