[4] One of the largest medical schools in the United States, John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School was established by The University of Texas System Board of Regents in 1969 to help shore up the projected state and national shortages of physicians.

On November 23, 2015, UTHealth announced that the UTHealth Medical School had been renamed the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School in honor of a $75 million gift from the John P. McGovern Foundation, the largest gift in the university's history.

[5] In 1962 there was a movement, led by then MD Anderson Hospital president, R. Lee Clark, to establish The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.

At that time there were 13 predoctoral students studying with scientists at MD Anderson who were enrolled through The University of Texas at Austin.

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was established on June 11, 1963, and activated by the Board of Regents of the University of Texas on September 28, 1963.

[6] After a two-year national search to recruit an outstanding scientist as dean of the new school, Paul A. Weiss, was chosen.

[8] Students gain clinical skills at affiliated hospitals, school districts and through community outreach projects.

UTHealth School of Dentistry also has off-site clinics: University Dental Center (postgraduate general dentistry), UT Professional Building, 6410 Fannin St., Suite 310; UTHealth Pediatric Dentistry (postgraduate clinic), Houston Medical Center Plaza, 6655 Travis St., Suite 460; UT Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Scurlock Tower, 6560 Fannin St., Suite 1900.

The school also provides a wide variety of settings in which students and faculty can study, conduct research and participate in clinical practice.

In response to the need for graduate public health education in other geographic areas of the state, UTHealth School of Public Health established regional campuses in San Antonio (1979), El Paso (1992), Dallas (1998), Brownsville (2000) and Austin (2007).

The regional campuses provide masters- and doctoral-level education to individuals in areas geographically distanced from Houston.

[14] The student housing on Cambridge, a two-story complex, was built in 1982 and includes the Child Development Center.

[citation needed] Minor dependent residents of both complexes are zoned to the Houston Independent School District.

[17] UTHealth has several centers and institutes whose work aligns with the university's mission of education, research and clinical care.