NMSU president announces details of new medical school

Below is a statement New Mexico State University President Garrey Carruthers regarding the new medical school that will be on the NMSU campus:

Today, I am delighted to announce a partnership between New Mexico State University, NMSU’s Arrowhead Center and the newly formed Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine to create the state’s newest medical school on the NMSU campus.

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine at New Mexico State University will be a freestanding, privately funded, separately licensed and independently operated enti ty. No taxpayer dollars will go toward its operation. BCOM’s initial capital investment in the project is approximately $85 million.

Dan Burrell, principal at Burrell Family Offices, will serve as chairman of BCOM and George Mychaskiw will be the chief academic officer and dean. BCOM will train physicians who can deliver culturally competent care in areas along the U.S./Mexico border region, in New Mexico’s rural communities and among the state’s Native American tribes, pueblos and nations.

BCOM has already submitted its pre-accreditation application to the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation and will submit an application to New Mexico’s Higher Education Department, private schools division. BCOM’s goal is to admit its first class in August 2016.

Over the past year, BCOM has successfully worked with local and regional hospitals and physicians to create new clinical training programs for the medical school’s students and graduates.

I have long been impressed by the amount of medical and biomedical research, education and outreach performed by our outstanding faculty across NMSU and our community colleges. This new partnership will serve to enhance those efforts, as well as our land-grant mission, as NMSU and BCOM plan to share faculty, research programs and various student-life services.

As part of the agreement with the university, BCOM has agreed to a long-term land lease for its facility at NMSU’s Arrowhead Park. Construction on a new, 80,000-square-foot building to house the medical school will begin within the next year.

Additionally, BCOM has agreed to create a significant scholarship fund for NMSU students pursuing health care and health-related fields, with an emphasis on pre-medicine students. BCOM will also provide payment to NMSU for its students to participate and utilize the same campus services as NMSU students, such as campus housing, NMSU’s student activity center and admission to NMSU athletic events.

This is an outstanding day for New Mexico as this public-private partnership will benefit the health and well-being of people across our state, and the region, by addressing our severe shortage of primary care physicians, especially among New Mexico’s underserved, rural populations. Please join me in welcoming the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine to New Mexico State University.