Exclusive: ASU medical school receives accreditation and new name
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Photo: Courtesy of Fervor Creative/Arizona State University
Arizona State University's new medical school, which will be named the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, has received preliminary accreditation, the program heads tell Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: As the health care industry nationwide reckons with worker shortages and public distrust, the country's largest public university has chosen this moment to launch a medical school that ASU officials say will challenge traditional medical education and harness the power of technology.
State of play: Accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education allows ASU to begin recruiting for its inaugural cohort, expected to begin next fall.
- And the nine-figure naming investment from Shufeldt — founder of the NextCare Urgent Care network — will support the operation of the new school, the creation of an endowed professorship for entrepreneurship in medicine and a health tech venture philanthropy fund.
How it works: Students will receive both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Science in Medical Engineering degrees in four years.
- Inaugural dean Sarah Hollingsworth "Holly" Lisanby tells Axios that graduates will be "physician engineers" who can develop new technologies to "transform how we diagnose, how we treat and, ultimately, how we prevent illness."
- "It's not just about training more physicians, but training physicians differently," she said.
Threat level: ASU's decision to launch the medical school came in response to an Arizona Board of Regents 2023 call to address the state's severe shortage of health care professionals. According to ABOR, to meet Arizona's expected need by 2030, the state will require an additional:
- 3,644 physicians;
- 14,291 registered nurses;
- 2,419 behavioral health workers.
What they're saying: Shufeldt tells Axios his donation was "the easiest decision I've ever made."
- He said he hopes graduates will be able to "innovate in a system that's rife with inefficiencies," to "dent the universe."
Zoom in: Shufeldt was an early pioneer in the urgent care industry, growing NextCare to 60 facilities across six states before stepping down in 2010. He's since founded businesses that focus on telehealth and tribal health care delivery.
- Lisanby said he "personifies the spirit of what our school is about."
Between the lines: Shufeldt School students will receive hands-on hospital experience through ASU's partnership with HonorHealth, a locally owned nonprofit health care system.
- HonorHealth CEO Todd LaPorte told us it's imperative to increase the supply of trained professionals if the state wants to continue its population growth, and that the new medical school is a key first step.
- "Arizona has to view health care as basic infrastructure," he said.
What's next: The Shufeldt School will be part of the new ASU Health headquarters slated to open in downtown Phoenix in 2028.
- Students will attend classes at ASU's existing Mercado building until the new facility opens.
The bottom line: "This important new program will put Sun Devils at the cutting edge of medicine and health care, and help drive innovation in a quickly growing sector," Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement to Axios.