Tulane's traveling med school.What happens to a medical school when a massive hurricane dumps 6 feet of water into ground floor classrooms just 3 weeks after the start of school? If it's Tulane Medical School in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded , it gets out of town and sets up shop in Houston. But just when classes were about to restart after Hurricane Katrina's unruly visit, Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005. began bearing down on Tulane's new home away from home, notes Ian Taylor, the school's dean. Luckily, Rita left Houston little damaged, so Tulane's 620 students finally resumed their studies on Oct. 3. This fall, the students will attend courses taught by Tulane faculty in classrooms being lent to the school by four Houston medical schools that have tome to be known collectively as the Alliance of South Texas Health Science. The alliance coalesced co·a·lesce intr.v. co·a·lesced, co·a·lesc·ing, co·a·lesc·es 1. To grow together; fuse. 2. To come together so as to form one whole; unite: within 10 days after Katrina's landfall land·fall n. 1. The act or an instance of sighting or reaching land after a voyage or flight. 2. The land sighted or reached after a voyage or flight. specifically to offer the Tulane students and faculty a place to continue their work. Members of the Houston medical community are even opening their homes to Tulane's exiles. "We wanted to show that we're just one big community," explains William Brinkley, senior vice president of one alliance member, the Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine is a private medical school located in Houston, Texas, USA on the grounds of the Texas Medical Center. It has been consistently rated the top medical school in Texas and among the best in the United States. . The Houston hosts also understand some of what their Tulane colleagues are experiencing. In 2001, a tropical storm left Baylor's medical center under water and out of commission for 2 months. Taylor said that his university hopes to reopen in New Orleans by Jan. 1.--J.R. |
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