University of the Incarnate Word announced Thursday that it has created the world's first academic research center devoted to medical tourism, or the practice of traveling to across international borders for healthcare, typically for cost, convenience or the speed of treatment.

For example, many Texans travel to Mexico to save money on dental procedures or plastic surgery that would be pricey in the United States.

Called the Center for Medical Tourism Research, the center is a partnership between UIW's H-E-B School of Business & Administration and the Medical Tourism Association. The center's director, professor David George Vequist IV, is considered a leading academic on the topic.

The center will research economic and social impacts of the medical tourism industry, and use that information to inform policy decisions.