Austin's St. Edward’s University and the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in San Antonio have partnered in order to train more healthcare professionals for times of crisis, a release on St. Edward's website said.

Provosts from the schools, Andrew Prall of St. Edward's and Barbara Aranda-Naranjo of UIW, signed four agreements that will help position St. Edward’s undergraduates well in their advanced healthcare pursuits at the University of the Incarnate Word; which has a number of schools including Osteopathic Medicine, Pharmacy, Optometry and Physical Therapy. 

The memorandum of understanding states that the University of the Incarnate Word will have interview spots and seats for qualifying students in the aforementioned medical programs. The pharmacy program will have slots for all qualified students; while the schools of Optometry, Physical Therapy and Osteopathic Medicine will have slots for up to 10 qualified students. 

“This formal partnership with University of the Incarnate Word will give our Class of 2020 a direct pathway to UIW’s rigorous graduate degree programs,” Prall said. “Looking forward, we hope this is the start of a long collaboration between UIW and St. Edward’s that will equip and prepare students to meet the state’s growing healthcare demands.” 

The agreement comes at a time when healthcare professionals are especially needed, as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word were called to action during a pandemic and serving the healthcare needs of our communities has been our calling ever since,” Aranda-Naranjo said. “With the current COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers are needed to serve in vulnerable population communities and this agreement between St. Edward’s and UIW will ensure there will be health care providers to work with these populations.”

Both schools pride themselves on caring for the whole student and building them up for greatness in their career and service to the world.

The program will begin now for students applying for program initiation in Fall 2021.