University of North Texas regents unanimously ap­proved a new doctor of medicine program for the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth on Friday.

The medical degree program will need approval from the 2011 Legislature before programs could be offered to students in 2013.

Members of the osteopathic physician community, as well as the school’s alumni association, strongly oppose adding the M.D. program to the university’s offerings, saying it would diminish the existing programs.

In specific, diverting any funds to the M.D. program could stunt the growth of the doctor of osteopathy program, they said.

The new program, called the M.D. Medical College, is estimated to cost about $21.5 million for the first five years in startup costs, according to a study presented to the regents.

Funding for the program would come from private donations in the Fort Worth community, which is in need of more physicians, said Scott Ransom, president of the UNT Health Science Center.

“I have letters [of financial and community supporters] committed to the program,” Ransom said. “We want to dramatically expand the opportunities for students as well as residents, and the next stage of the process is to get into details.”

Those details are of concern to the opposition, including John Crosby, executive director of the American Osteopathic Association.

Crosby told regents he was proud of the Health Science Center’s efforts in the medical community, but the university leaders need to take a close look at the M.D. program and the costs associated with it.

“We are here as a united and distinct medical profession to urge you to bury the [M.D.] program,” Crosby said to the regents.

“You don’t need it, you can’t afford it and it’s not the right thing to do.”

Chancellor Lee Jackson addressed the board prior to a vote, saying the board’s action was simply a plan to develop a medical degree program at the Health Science Center, and if goals were not met before the legislative session, such as funding, the development of the program would be dropped.

“We need more internal doctors, not more specialists,” Jackson told regents. “If the answers to three or four goals are not met, we would suspend or drop the initiative, given fiscal difficulties.”

The new program will only create a better breadth of offerings for the university, Ransom said.

“Our institution is bigger and better in every way, and a M.D. program will only add to the programs at the institution,” he said.