[2] The school is intended to help increase access to healthcare in the East Texas region.

In December 2019, the UT System Board of Regents unanimously agreed to merge The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT) under The University of Texas at Tyler, creating a single unified institution.

In November 2021, the UT System Board of Regents approved the purchase of land adjacent to UT Health East Texas' hospital in Tyler's medical district for construction of the school.

[5] In March 2022, representatives from the SACSCOC conducted their final walkthrough of each of the four UT Tyler campuses as part of the School of Medicine's accreditation.

UT Health East Texas will serve as a teaching facility for the medical school.