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State board gives a clean bill to Touro Medical School plan
Thursday, April 20, 2006
BY CAROL ANN CAMPBELL
Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey came closer to getting its only private medical school yesterday after a state board approved a bid by Touro College, a nonprofit organization that wants to build a school in Florham Park.
Touro College, a nonprofit Jewish organization, operates 23 schools, including a law school in New York and medical schools in California and Las Vegas.
Touro now must begin the rigorous accreditation process by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, an independent authority. If approved, Touro Medical School of New Jersey, a $50 million project, would be the state's first medical school since the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine was created in 1976.
No state funds will be used in the project.
"This is an offer New Jersey couldn't say no to," said Robert Torricelli, the former U.S. senator who now works as a private consultant. He has lobbied for the school.
Yesterday's vote by the state Board of Medical Examiners was unanimous.
Proponents of the school pointed to a looming doctor shortage. One projection shows the U.S. will be short 85,000 physicians by 2020.
Torricelli said New Jersey has the nation's second-highest percentage of foreign-trained physicians, 38 percent vs. 23 percent nationally. More than half the residency training programs at New Jersey hospitals are filled by foreign-trained graduates, twice the national average, he said.
Not everyone in New Jersey believes the doctor shortage will be solved by creating new schools. Yesterday's approval came despite objections from officials at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, who said a new school could compete for faculty as well as training spots at hospitals.
"A competing medical school will limit the training options available to our students," Robert L. Johnson, interim dean of the New Jersey Medical School, said at a recent hearing, according to written testimony. Touro also could jeopardize the medical school's plans for expansion, he said.
Peter Carmel, a professor at New Jersey Medical School, testified that New Jersey residents have "ample opportunity" to get into a medical school in New Jersey, and that current medical schools should be expanded to meet the need for additional doctors.
A report by the state medical board's Touro Committee largely rejected the arguments by UMDNJ. "The committee is not convinced that the presence of additional students will threaten UMDNJ's success in the ways anticipated," the committee report said.
The school plans an affiliation with Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Basic sciences faculty from Stevens would work part-time at the new medical school. One-third of Touro medical students would come from Stevens through a joint degree program, said Sean Jackson, a consultant for Touro from Rosemont Associates in Lambertville.
Touro has had "discussions" with Cathedral Healthcare System, which operates St. Michael's Medical Center in Newark, about sponsoring clinical training of Touro students.
The board required that Touro, while it seeks full accreditation, not interfere with hospital training affiliations currently in place for UMDNJ medical students.
Yesterday's decision allows the school to more aggressively begin fundraising -- and moves Touro farther away from its early brush with New Jersey scandal. Its first financial backer, Charles Kushner, was arrested on charges he made illegal political donations, and claimed charitable donations as business expenses.
Kushner was transferred in late March to a Newark halfway house after spending less than half his two-year term at a prison camp in Alabama. He could be freed completely in August.
The board committee report described the school as financially viable, saying Kushner has agreed to donate up to $10 million. Tuition would be from $25,000 to $30,000 annually. Touro College, meanwhile, has an endowment of $35 million and is selling assets valued at $150 million to $180 million, the report noted.
Jackson said Touro hopes to have students by 2008, and would have about 100 students in each class. In contrast, the New Jersey Medical School has a total of 700 students and the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 643 students. The UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine has 380 students.
Carol Ann Campbell covers medicine. She may be reached at [email protected] or (973) 392-4148.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1145508142120320.xml&coll=1
State board gives a clean bill to Touro Medical School plan
Thursday, April 20, 2006
BY CAROL ANN CAMPBELL
Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey came closer to getting its only private medical school yesterday after a state board approved a bid by Touro College, a nonprofit organization that wants to build a school in Florham Park.
Touro College, a nonprofit Jewish organization, operates 23 schools, including a law school in New York and medical schools in California and Las Vegas.
Touro now must begin the rigorous accreditation process by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, an independent authority. If approved, Touro Medical School of New Jersey, a $50 million project, would be the state's first medical school since the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine was created in 1976.
No state funds will be used in the project.
"This is an offer New Jersey couldn't say no to," said Robert Torricelli, the former U.S. senator who now works as a private consultant. He has lobbied for the school.
Yesterday's vote by the state Board of Medical Examiners was unanimous.
Proponents of the school pointed to a looming doctor shortage. One projection shows the U.S. will be short 85,000 physicians by 2020.
Torricelli said New Jersey has the nation's second-highest percentage of foreign-trained physicians, 38 percent vs. 23 percent nationally. More than half the residency training programs at New Jersey hospitals are filled by foreign-trained graduates, twice the national average, he said.
Not everyone in New Jersey believes the doctor shortage will be solved by creating new schools. Yesterday's approval came despite objections from officials at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, who said a new school could compete for faculty as well as training spots at hospitals.
"A competing medical school will limit the training options available to our students," Robert L. Johnson, interim dean of the New Jersey Medical School, said at a recent hearing, according to written testimony. Touro also could jeopardize the medical school's plans for expansion, he said.
Peter Carmel, a professor at New Jersey Medical School, testified that New Jersey residents have "ample opportunity" to get into a medical school in New Jersey, and that current medical schools should be expanded to meet the need for additional doctors.
A report by the state medical board's Touro Committee largely rejected the arguments by UMDNJ. "The committee is not convinced that the presence of additional students will threaten UMDNJ's success in the ways anticipated," the committee report said.
The school plans an affiliation with Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Basic sciences faculty from Stevens would work part-time at the new medical school. One-third of Touro medical students would come from Stevens through a joint degree program, said Sean Jackson, a consultant for Touro from Rosemont Associates in Lambertville.
Touro has had "discussions" with Cathedral Healthcare System, which operates St. Michael's Medical Center in Newark, about sponsoring clinical training of Touro students.
The board required that Touro, while it seeks full accreditation, not interfere with hospital training affiliations currently in place for UMDNJ medical students.
Yesterday's decision allows the school to more aggressively begin fundraising -- and moves Touro farther away from its early brush with New Jersey scandal. Its first financial backer, Charles Kushner, was arrested on charges he made illegal political donations, and claimed charitable donations as business expenses.
Kushner was transferred in late March to a Newark halfway house after spending less than half his two-year term at a prison camp in Alabama. He could be freed completely in August.
The board committee report described the school as financially viable, saying Kushner has agreed to donate up to $10 million. Tuition would be from $25,000 to $30,000 annually. Touro College, meanwhile, has an endowment of $35 million and is selling assets valued at $150 million to $180 million, the report noted.
Jackson said Touro hopes to have students by 2008, and would have about 100 students in each class. In contrast, the New Jersey Medical School has a total of 700 students and the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 643 students. The UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine has 380 students.
Carol Ann Campbell covers medicine. She may be reached at [email protected] or (973) 392-4148.
© 2006 The Star Ledger
