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Baylor College of Medicine, BCM, owns Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center jointly with CommonSpirit Health. Faculty from BCM work alongside community physicians and nurses at the medical center, making Baylor College of Medicine a potential employer for nurses and other healthcare professionals interested in both teaching and treating.
Find out more about Baylor College of Medicine, its status as an employer, and what it and the Houston area can offer travel nurses and allied health providers. We cover everything from staff numbers to standout accomplishments to help you decide whether Baylor College of Medicine in Houston is the right next step in your healthcare career.
What Is Baylor College of Medicine?
BCM is a health sciences university with a school of medicine, graduate school of biomedical sciences, school of health professions and national school of tropical medicine. Study options range from continuing professional development to programs for nurse anesthetists. Graduate programs concentrate on niches such as cancer, neuroscience and immunology, while students in tropical medicine programs study major parasitic diseases and related conditions.
History of Baylor College of Medicine
Physicians who saw a need for medical training in the area opened the original school in October 1900 in Dallas by physicians. It later changed its name to Baylor University College of Medicine after an affiliation with Baylor University in Waco. Although growth was somewhat slow for the college and medical center, it was the only private medical school listed in the Lone Star State in 1918.
In the middle of the 20th century, the college joined the Texas Medical Center and opened in Houston. Then, it separated from Baylor University and signed an agreement with the Texas state government to increase class sizes in 1969. The need for healthcare professionals in Texas was significant, and the state looked, in part, to Baylor College of Medicine to help fill that gap. It’s a relationship that still exists today, making the college an important player in medical education and a prominent employer in the area.
Baylor College of Medicine Campus
The extensive campus includes numerous academic buildings and other structures standard for a college as well as clinics and medical facilities that treat patients. Numerous other medical facilities within walking distance include:
- Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center
- Baylor Clinic
- Ben Taub Hospital and Research Center
- Children’s Nutrition Research Center
The official address for Baylor College of Medicine is 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030.
Baylor College of Medicine’s website offers more information and maps of the campus.
Safety and Security at BCM
The college takes security and safety on campus seriously and has numerous programs to support student, faculty and staff peace of mind. The BCM Security Department responds to any emergency on campus, regardless of the date or time, and BCM publishes a daily incident log available to the public to ensure transparency when incidents do arise.
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston has an impressive safety record, especially regarding its lack of crime. In its 2021 annual security report, BCM indicated that none of the following types of crimes had been reported on campus property (to either the BCM Security Department or the Houston Police Department) in 2018, 2019, or 2020:
- Murder or manslaughter
- Sex offenses
- Robbery
- Aggravated assault
- Burglary
- Motor vehicle theft
- Arson
- Dating violence
- Stalking
- Liquor law violations
- Drug law violations
- Weapons law violations
- Hate crimes
Baylor College of Medicine as an Employer
Baylor College of Medicine employs nearly 4,900 staff members, over 4,000 faculty members, more than 100 emeritus faculty members and about 1,300 volunteers. These numbers don’t include the 1,000s of trainees, including medical and grad school students, clinical residents, clinical and postdoctoral fellows and tropical medicine course participants working for BCM.
The organization’s mission states, “Baylor College of Medicine is a health sciences university that creates knowledge and applies science and discoveries to further education, healthcare and community service locally and globally.”
Growth Potential at BCM
As an employer, BCM offers immense potential for growth due to its numerous locations and affiliations with:
- Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center
- Children’s Hospital of San Antonio
- Harris Health System
- MD Anderson
- TIRR Memorial Hermann
- Texas Children’s Hospital
- VA Medical Center
BCM also has research affiliations with organizations like the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Houston and Rice University through The Gulf Coast Consortia for Quantitative Biomedical Sciences.
Number of Beds
Students at Baylor College of Medicine have opportunities to learn at Texas Medical Center, which has 9,200 patient beds and more than 10 million patient visits a year. Its affiliation with Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center adds another 850 beds.
BCM’s active affiliations and status as a teaching hospital support a wide variety of career paths or learning. Travel nurses and allied health providers may find opportunities to work with new patient populations or master new skills thanks to the enormous scope of the work and research done in these facilities.
Diversity and Inclusion at BCM
The college has an Office of Institutional Diversity, Inclusion & Equity that works alongside leadership, human resources, and others campus-wide to ensure diversity and support an inclusive culture. The office annually reports on diversity among students, fellows, faculty and staff.
The 2021 report indicated that 73% of staff at BCM were female and 27% were male. Concerning race, the breakdown of staff was:
- 20% Black or African American
- 28% White
- 19% Asian
- 17% Hispanic
- 16% Not specified or other
Faculty numbers revealed a more even split among genders, with 55% female and 45% male in 2021. However, the faculty had less diversity compared to staff numbers with:
- 6% Black or African American
- 44% White
- 25% Asian
- 7% Hispanic
- 18% Not specific or other
Standout Accomplishments
The 2021 Fact Sheet for Baylor College of Medicine indicated it received the top spot for Texas medical schools in U.S. News & World Reports rankings that year. It also ranked 1st in Texas for its PA and nurse anesthesia programs. The publisher ranked BCM fourth for primary care and 22nd for research nationwide. BCM also appeared among the top 25 spots in a range of other national rankings, including:
- 2nd for its nurse anesthesia programs
- 3rd for its PA programs
- 6th for pediatrics
- 13th for geriatrics, oncology and surgery
- 15th for family medicine
- 24th for internal medicine
Baylor College of Medicine receives the most funding from the National Institutes of Health of all Texas medical research locations and has since 2006. It ranks 21st in the nation for funding from NIH.BCM stands in the top 20 for cell biology, gastroenterology and hepatology, and molecular biology and genetics worldwide.
The takeaway for those considering Baylor College of Medicine in Houston as an employer is that it’s well-respected. That’s true whether you’re a travel nurse or other healthcare professional looking to get into teaching, clinical work or research.
Parking and Commuting when You Work at BCM
Baylor College of Medicine and many of its affiliated medical facilities are in downtown Houston on or near the Texas Medical Center campus. As such, Texas Medical Center coordinates all traffic and parking. If you’re working at BCM or its affiliates, you may need to register your vehicle with TMC for parking purposes.
Individuals working for BCM may be able to take advantage of shuttle buses that carry students and staff from extension lots to central locations on campus and the medical center. Shuttle buses run every 4 to 10 minutes during peak hours, from 4:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Outside peak hours, buses run about every 20 minutes, though there isn’t any service from midnight to 4:30 a.m.
The METROBus and METRORail public transportation services also serve BCM locations. Bus services cost $1.25 for rides up to three hours, with unlimited transfers. METRORail fare is also $1.25. The area around BCM is bikeable and walkable.
What Houston and Texas Can Offer Healthcare Professionals
As an employer, Baylor College of Medicine offers something clinical settings in other areas of the nation aren’t always able to provide: a robust metropolitan environment with plenty of amenities to support work-life balance and fun during days off. Houston is one of the major metro areas in Texas.
Some attractions of interest to travel healthcare workers might include:
- The Houston Museum of Natural Science, with historic and current sights of the natural world, including an impressive collection of dinosaur bones
- The Houston Zoo, where families or animal lovers enjoy watching animals from across the globe
- The Space Center Houston, offering an in-depth history of space travel and exploration and the NASA Tram Tour
- The Galleria, where you can dine and shop at fine retail establishments or spend time on the expansive indoor ice skating rink
- Toyota Center, featuring some of the biggest acts and sports match-ups in the nation
If you’re looking for your next healthcare job in Houston, Baylor College of Medicine is an employer worth considering.
