Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine Welcomes Inaugural Class

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., July 27, 2011 -- After more than three years of planning, discussion and research on the part of hundreds of people, the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine this week welcomed its inaugural class of 40 students. The School of Medicine is New York State's first new allopathic medical school in 40 years and the nation's 133rd medical school. The students began their educational journey on Monday, with a week-long orientation. Classes begin on August 1. The school received more than 4,000 applications for entry into the inaugural class.

The 20 women and 20 men range in age (from 22 to 36 years old) and were selected from more than 700 applicants who were interviewed over a five-month period. The students come from more than 38 different hometowns, 14 different states and 33 different universities. They possess undergraduate degrees in a wide variety of major concentrations, ranging from English to chemistry to anthropology.

"Today these students take the first bold step on a journey to become the physicians of tomorrow," said Dr. Lawrence Smith, Dean of the School of Medicine. "They represent a unique and diverse cross section of educational and life experiences and were selected not only for their test scores, but equally for their character and core values."

"From the shared vision of a new medical school on Long Island, to welcoming our first class of forty students today, in less than four years we and our partner North Shore-LIJ Health System have succeeded in making this new and innovative medical school a reality," said Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz. "Today I speak for the entire Hofstra University community when I say we are proud and pleased to welcome our newest students to campus. It is a great day for our institutions and our region."

"With this inaugural class, we are bringing in 40 bright, talented individuals who recognize that we are offering an extraordinary opportunity to create an entirely new model for the way medicine is practiced in this country," said Michael Dowling, president and chief executive officer of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. "Most of them had other offers to attend more traditional medical schools, but they chose to come here – and make history by becoming part of a new breed of physicians who understand the importance of teamwork and communication in the future of healthcare delivery."

Within the first weeks of their arrival, students will be trained and certified as emergency medical technicians and begin working in ambulances. By learning to be EMTs and practicing emergency care from the beginning of their studies, students will be exposed as members of an emergency-response team to patients in crisis situations. The school's ground-breaking academic course content offers students the unique opportunity to learn medicine through a new and innovative curriculum that integrates basic science with hands-on clinical experience throughout the four years of medical school.

During orientation week, students met with School of Medicine faculty, became familiar with the 48,000-square-foot state-of-the-art School of Medicine facility on the Hofstra University campus, were greeted by Dean Smith, Mr. Dowling and President Rabinowitz; and heard from guest speaker Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, Dean of Harvard Medical School, who relayed his own personal experience of what it's like to be a member of the first class of a medical school. Dean Flier was a member of the inaugural class of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, from which he graduated in 1972, having earned the Elster Award for Highest Academic Standing.

Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine

The School of Medicine was formed in response to the Association of American Medical Colleges' 2006 recommendation to increase medical school enrollment by 30 percent by 2015. Hofstra University, Long Island's largest and most prestigious private university, and North Shore-LIJ Health System, one of the largest health systems in the nation, responded to this need by establishing the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. The School of Medicine is an academic unit of Hofstra University.

The Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine represents a unique and equal partnership between two outstanding Long Island institutions. This union enables the School of Medicine to provide excellent clinical training, research opportunities and academic infrastructure to its students.

The hallmark of the School of Medicine's educational model is an integrated curriculum that blends humanistic medicine with sophisticated science and molds students into caring, patient-centered physicians who are able to translate knowledge into effective, empathic action. The combination of meaningful and instructive clinical experiences and academic learning is designed to create compassionate and creative physicians who understand how to think quickly and without all the answers at hand. This is critical in medicine today.

Learning takes place both on Hofstra's campus in Hempstead, New York and throughout North Shore-LIJ's vast health system. The school's centerpiece is a newly renovated 48,000 square-foot facility that previously housed the New York Jets summer training facility. The building features a 108-seat capacity Medical Education Theater; dozens of small group meeting areas; a Health Sciences Library and a full service cafe. The Structure Lab is a state-of-the-art environment that offers students the most advanced tools to learn gross and microscopic anatomy, coupled with clinically relevant pathology and imaging.

Additional learning sites include the world renowned Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the North Shore-LIJ Health System's Center for Learning and Innovation, Patient Safety Institute and the Bioskills Education Center. These advanced learning facilities feature state-of-the-art human-simulation laboratories with digitally enhanced and controlled mannequins and partial- and full-body task trainers, standardized patient rooms, and high-fidelity surgical skills training stations. In these facilities, students learn and strengthen clinical skills and manage hypothetical patient cases as members of a multidisciplinary health care team.

At the School of Medicine, a student's clinical experience will be unparalleled. North Shore-LIJ offers a wide spectrum of high-quality services and world-class facilities and will serve as the consummate extended classroom. The health system is a model of patient-centric continuum of care. The health system includes 15 hospitals across Long Island, and in Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island, but also an extensive emergency medical service system and ambulatory, home health, hospice and long-term health services.

Nearly 1000 faculty members, organized into 24 departments, will guide the students on their learning journey. Dean Smith is a nationally recognized visionary leader in medicine and medical education. He also serves as Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, thus ensuring a strong partnership, as well as a seamless integration of classroom and clinical experience.

The School of Medicine has been granted accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and was also approved by the New York State Board of Regents in June 2010.