gather in good company

This morning, I will join North Shore-LIJ Health System Chief Executive Officer Michael Dowling and Medical School Dean Lawrence G. Smith, MD, to announce that the School of Medicine has obtained the necessary accreditations to recruit its first class of 40 medical students. The School of Medicine will be accepting applications as of July 1, 2010, in order to enroll an initial class of 40 students who will begin their studies in summer 2011, creating New York State’s first new allopathic medical school since 1963.

We are delighted to witness our vision for an innovative School of Medicine become a reality, and are looking forward to recruiting our inaugural class. Our goal is to enhance all our academic programs and research opportunities in the sciences. The School of Medicine will lead the way and partner with the other schools and colleges at Hofstra and with our community to create integrated, interdisciplinary programs that benefit all students.

On Tuesday, June 1, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) voted to grant the School of Medicine preliminary accreditation, which allows the School to begin recruiting an initial class for the next academic year. Over the past 2 1/2 years, hundreds of physicians, scholars, administrators and leaders from both Hofstra University and the North Shore-LIJ Health System have been engaged in creating a cutting-edge, scientifically rigorous, patient-centered medical school curriculum. These teams, led by Dr. Smith and his senior administrative team, created the documents, curriculum and guidelines that made up the self-study report, a 3,000 page document.

On Friday, June 4, the New York State Education Department’s Division of Professional Education gave final approval of the medical school’s educational program. Previously, at their April board meeting, the Regents of the State of New York granted the University the right to confer the MD degree. These two approvals provide the final authorization necessary to enroll an initial class.

The University also received approval from the State Education Department for the School of Medicine’s PhD program in the molecular basis of medicine. And the School will offer a joint admission MD/PhD program starting in the fall of 2011.

The School of Medicine formally opened the new academic facility on June 8. The building had been known as Weeb Ewbank Hall and had served as the New York Jets (NFL) administrative offices and training headquarters since the late 1960s. A $12.5 million New York State grant will fund a major renovation to convert the building into a state-of-the-art medical school building, equipped with a large lecture hall that can fit more than 100 students, cutting-edge instructional technology and classroom and study space designed to work specifically with the innovative new curriculum, created by the faculty committees.

For more information about the new School of Medicine, visit http://medicine.hofstra.edu <http://medicine.hofstra.edu/>

Today is a great day for our University and for our partner, the North Shore-LIJ Health System. Our University is a great institution because of all of you, our partners and our community. This is a very special occasion, one during which we can all celebrate our success and look ahead with great hope to a brighter future.

Sincerely,
Stuart Rabinowitz
President