San Antonio
The city offers a rich mixture of cultural heritages derived from its historical settlement by persons from Germany, France, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, and the Canary Islands. San Antonio is one of the three largest metropolitan areas in Texas. It is also the second largest city in Texas, and ranks as the seventh largest city in the nation. The River Walk, or Paseo Del Rio, with its waterside restaurants, hotels, shopping areas, and cultural attractions, has helped the city develop into a prime location for conventions and tourism.
San Antonio has a flourishing art community with active theatre groups, dance companies, along with music and art associations. Museums include the San Antonio Museum of Art, the McNay Art Museum, the Witte Museum, the Institute of Texan Cultures, and the San Antonio Botanical Garden. The campus of the University of the Incarnate Word is located in the north-central area of the city adjacent to Brackenridge Park and to the suburb of Alamo Heights, which offers a quiet, well established residential area as well as shopping, restaurant, cultural, and recreational facilities.
The city is rich in educational offerings with four private universities, a Catholic theological graduate school, two state universities, a state-sponsored medical school, and a public community college system. It is also a center for scientific and medical research. Faculty and students at the UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine seek innovative ways to complete justice-based research that promotes cultural, linguistic, and community responsive care for all patients. Additionally, UIW affords students the ability to study health care at the Rosenburg School of Optometry, the School of Physical Therapy, the Feik School of Pharmacy, and the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professionals. Other medical research organization in San Antonio include the University of Texas Health Science Center, the Southwest Research Institution, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, and the Cancer Therapy Research Center.