NYU Long Island School of Medicine celebrated its first graduating class of physicians, marking three years since the new medical school opened its doors, launching the nation’s first accelerated program devoted exclusively to training primary care physicians. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the US is expected to be short of primary care physicians by upwards of 21,000 within a decade, and the school’s graduating students will contribute to alleviating that deficit. More than half of the physician graduates will remain in the greater New York and Long Island regions.
NYU Long Island School is one of the first medical schools in the nation to be tuition-free—and the first on Long Island—following the tuition-free model of NYU Grossman School of Medical in Manhattan, both under the auspices of NYU Langone Health.
“NYU Long Island School of Medicine’s inaugural Class of 2022 is the realization of a bold vision to make medical school financially attainable and attract exceptional students into the field of primary care,” said Robert I. Grossman, MD, Dean and CEO of NYU Langone Health. “We hope that many of the graduating physicians will choose to practice on Long Island, keeping our communities healthy and helping NYU Langone Health expand upon our network of quality physicians across Long Island.”
The physician graduates, totaling 20 in the Class of 2022, will practice in four primary care areas: family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and OB/GYN, along with general surgery. They will first fulfill their medical residencies, including those attending NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island, Johns Hopkins, Mass General, and other prestigious institutions to which they were accepted. By graduating from an accelerated three-year program, they begin these residencies a year earlier than those who graduated from a traditional four-year medical school where students typically focus their final year on other specialties.
Founding Dean Steven Shelov, MD, MS, gave the keynote at the ceremonies, commending the graduates: “All of you are empathic, patient, powerful listeners, and caring, kind, and humble, eager to bring out the best in yourselves. We in the leadership of NYU Long Island School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health are committed to you, our charter class, as you become exemplary physicians.”
Also addressing the graduates at this year’s inaugural commencement were Gladys Ayala, MD, associate dean of NYU Long Island School of Medicine; Steven Carsons, MD, senior associate dean of Research at NYU Long Island School of Medicine; and Joseph Greco, MD, senior vice president and chief of Hospital Operations at NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island.
NYU Long Island School of Medicine, which is located in Mineola on the campus of NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island, celebrated its Class of 2022 graduation at nearby Molloy College in Rockville Center. The graduates continued from there to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, to join a collective graduation ceremony honoring all NYU 2022 graduates.
To sustain its full-tuition scholarship initiative, NYU Long Island School of Medicine is supported by philanthropy as well as receiving support from NYU Langone Health.
