Quantcast

NYU Winthrop Opens Tuition-Free Medical School

ClassWinthrop COVER
Long Island School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony

In February, New York University announced that it was creating a new, three-year medical school on the NYU Winthrop Hospital campus in Mineola. The school, which is named NYU Long Island School of Medicine (NYU LISOM), will have a curriculum that is focused on training and producing primary care physicians and will offer full-tuition scholarships to all students in its MD degree program regardless of a student’s merit or financial need.

NYU LISOM will serve as NYU’s second medical school and will be the only accelerated three-year MD program that is focused on primary care, including internal and community medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN and surgery, offering students a conditional acceptance to an NYU Winthrop residency slot through the National Resident Matching Program (NMRP) upon matriculation.

Last week, the newly accredited NYU LISOM opened its doors to its first class of students in Mineola, welcoming a new generation of aspiring physicians in an inaugural white coat ceremony, which is a rite of passage for students entering any medical school.

“As of this very minute, we’re all partners,” said Kenneth G. Langone, who is the chair of the board of trustees for NYU Langone Health at the ceremony. “All of you students, your families and this wonderful staff here. We’re all partners in the most noblest of callings. And what is that? To help people live happier and healthier lives, to help people deal with pain and suffering and to do it in a way that we respect them as individuals.”

Students were selected at the time of their application and interviewed based upon their commitment to training and practicing as primary care clinicians. NYU LISOM received more than 2,400 applications for the 24 available slots this year. The school has already begun recruiting for next year’s class, which will include 32 students. The year following, the class size will expand to 40 students and be capped at that number.

The inaugural white coat ceremony included each of the 24 students reciting a version of the Hippocratic Oath—acknowledging their commitment to serving humanity with honor, compassion and dignity, after which a white medical coat was draped upon their shoulders. During the ceremony, students were surrounded by family and friends, as well as school leadership and faculty.

“I think you all have a burden placed upon you today, because as you look out and set your career and I know many of you are sitting there saying ‘I know I can become chief resident. I know I can make it. I have it within me.’ If that’s your goal, that’s not enough,” said John F. Collins, president and CEO of NYU Winthrop Hospital. “If it’s within your grasp, it is not enough. You have to set a goal that’s almost impossible to reach.”

“New York University is renowned around the world and I came all the way from the UK to be president of NYU,” said Andrew Hamilton. “It’s renowned for its boldness and its innovation. This medical school, it epitomizes that spirit and the Class of 2022, you epitomize that spirit as well.”

The incoming students at NYU LISOM come from all different backgrounds and are from all over the country, including the tristate area and Mineola, to Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, and beyond. Students also come from top universities including Harvard, Duke, Vassar and NYU, as well as schools in the SUNY system including Binghamton and Stony Brook.

“I’ve been a registered nurse for the last five years, so I always knew that I wanted to be in the medical field,” said student and Mineola resident Lauren Jansma. “When I graduated from undergrad, I had a feeling in my gut that I wasn’t ready to commit and that I wasn’t sure being a physician is right for me since it was a big commitment. So I went into nursing and through that I proved to myself that it was what I wanted.”

Overall, the new program has been going pretty well for Jansma.

“Everyone here is so supportive,” said Jansma. “Around every corner there is someone asking you how you’re doing. It’s been great.”

“The students in our inaugural class are among our physician leaders of the future, and many overcame remarkable odds to get where they are today,” said Dr. Steven Shelov, who is the founding dean of the NYU Long Island School of Medicine. “We’re proud to be stewarding them toward their goals of becoming primary care physicians. Our exceptional clinical curriculum will be further enhanced by very strong mentorships from school leadership and faculty.”

For more information about undergraduate medical education at NYU Long Island School of Medicine, visit www.medli.nyu.edu.