The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University announced it is accepting applications for its inaugural class.
The first-ever class, which will be comprised of 55 students, will begin in July 9 at the Clifton and Nutley campuses.
This is the only private medical school to open in New Jersey.
“Dynamic changes in health care require a new approach to medical education and we are thrilled to announce that we are now accepting applications from so many talented and high achieving students,’’ said Robert C. Garrett, co-CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health.
Garrett said additionally, the Hackensack Meridian Heath board of trustees recently voted to establish a $100 million endowment fund for scholarships to the school so students can afford a medical education.
Along with opening the School of Medicine, Seton Hall University will relocate its College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences to create a Interprofessional Health Sciences campus in Nutley and Clifton this spring, Mary J. Meehan, interim president of Seton Hall university, said.
“For many years Seton Hall University has had exemplary programs in science and health education,” Meehan said. “These medical students will learn to be doctors in an innovative environment that combines their training, Seton Hall’s nationally recognized programs in nursing and other health-related fields, and access to Hackensack Meridian Health’s broad network.”
Students enrolled in the program will have access to Hackensack Meridian Health’s 16 hospitals for training purposes. Additionally, the curriculum will help future physicians navigate major changes in health care that are underway in the United States, including the transition to value-based care.
“Our goal is to maximize health in all of the communities we serve, a goal best achieved through an interdisciplinary approach based on an understanding that health and wellness, as well as disease and sickness, occur where people live, work and play,’’ said Dr. Bonita Stanton, founding dean of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University. “We are humanizing health care.’’
The new medical school also offers a three-year program to help with medical school costs.
“We are thrilled to have reached this milestone and are we eager to continue to serve this great mission to enhance medical education in New Jersey,’’ said Joseph Simunovich, chairman of the board of trustees of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.
