Texas Tech Med Dean: Schroeder takes over Permian Basin campus after national search

By Sarah Mills | GlobalBeat

Dr. Robin Schroeder will lead the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Permian Basin School of Medicine as its new regional dean, university officials announced Tuesday.

Schroeder, previously associate dean for curriculum at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, beat out 28 other candidates in a six-month national search. She starts July 1.

The appointment fills a 10-month vacancy left when former dean Dr. Richard Sanchez stepped down to become TTUHSC’s senior vice president. The medical school, founded in 2019, serves a 62,000-square-mile region with 2.2 million residents across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.

Schroeder inherits a program that just achieved full accreditation but faces critical challenges. The school only filled 66% of its entering class slots last fall, down from 86% the previous year. Rural hospitals across the Permian Basin operate at 40% physician vacancy rates, according to Texas Medical Association data.

“When we look at the health disparities out here, we’re talking about counties with zero obstetricians, counties where patients drive three hours for dialysis,” said Dr. Lori Rice-Spearman, TTUHSC provost and search committee chair. “Dr. Schroeder’s experience building rural training pipelines directly addresses those gaps.”

The new dean spent 12 years at UNTHSC developing family medicine residencies in small communities. She launched rural rotations that placed 120 medical students annually in towns like Cisco, Alpine and Hamilton. Ninety-four percent of participants later practiced within 100 miles of their training sites.

“West Texas reminds me exactly of areas where I’ve worked before,” Schroeder told reporters. “The same transportation issues, provider shortages, social determinants that keep people from accessing care.”

Texas Tech’s medical school operates on a $50 million annual budget. Enrollment has stalled at 40 students per class, half its eventual 80-student target. The program needs $12 million in new clinical teaching sites to expand, according to a recent accreditation report.

“We’re not going to solve this by just increasing class sizes,” Schroeder said. “We need to create incentives for physicians to stay, develop part-time practice models, use telemedicine strategically.”

State Senator Kevin Sparks, whose district covers much of the Permian Basin, called the appointment “essential for regional stability.” Sparks wrote a letter supporting Schroeder’s candidacy during the search process.

“The oil patch pays some of the highest wages in Texas, yet we can’t recruit doctors,” Sparks said. “That contradiction costs lives.”

TTUHSC officials noted Schroeder will earn $425,000 annually, moving from Fort Worth to Odessa. She plans to visit every county hospital in the region within her first 90 days.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Nixon, who practices at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, welcomed the leadership change after what he called “a period of drift.”

“Having someone who understands rural medicine’s unique pressures matters more than big-city credentials here,” Nixon said. “Our patients work in oil fields. They get crushed, burned, exposed to chemicals. We need physicians equipped for those realities.”

Background

The Permian Basin School of Medicine opened in 2019 as Texas’s 13th medical school. The state legislature allocated $16 million annually to address physician shortages across the region, funding 40 initial seats that would grow to 160 by 2025.

Texas faces the third-worst physician shortage nationally. A 2023 University of Texas report projected the state would need 10,200 additional physicians by 2032, with rural areas bearing half that gap despite serving 15% of the population.

The Permian Basin’s challenge mirrors broader patterns. Rural physicians across Texas average age 55, with 38% planning retirement within five years, according to the Texas Medical Association. Medical schools statewide produce roughly 1,700 graduates annually, but only 12% enter rural practice.

Schroeder’s previous work at UNTHSC focused on this exact problem. She developed a program that incentivized family medicine residents to practice in communities under 50,000 for at least three years post-graduation. Participants received $30,000 annual stipends and guaranteed job placement.

What’s Next

Schroeder will present her strategic plan to the TTUHSC board during their September meeting, with implementation beginning in 2027. Immediate priorities include finalizing partnerships with Andrews County Hospital, Midland Memorial Hospital and Rural Emergency Hospital facilities in Seminole and Lamesa. These agreements, pending approval, would create rotation slots for 25 additional fourth-year students starting next spring.

The new dean represents continuity and change. Texas Tech’s medical school has graduated only 49 physicians across four years, with 42 remaining in Texas. Schroeder needs to triple that output while preventing rural brain drain. Early indicators suggest she recognizes the scope. “We can’t just train doctors here,” she said. “We have to create communities where physicians want to build careers.”