Florida Tech announces creation of Space Coast's first medical school in Melbourne
Brevard County's first medical school will launch in summer 2024 at the Florida Institute of Technology campus in Melbourne.
Florida Tech and the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine entered into an affiliation agreement in November to establish a four-year osteopathic medical school on two floors of Florida Tech’s L3Harris Commons building via a sublease agreement.
Burrell College is a private medical school that launched in 2013 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and fielded its first class of students three years later.
The inaugural class of 100 students at the new Melbourne medical school is expected to enroll in July 2024 and graduate in May 2028, offering doctorate degrees in osteopathic medicine. This "hybrid" medical school created by both institutions is going through the accreditation process, Burrell College president and co-founder John Hummer said.
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“It's been a lot of work, but we know that it's going to be worth it. This relationship brings with it a much-needed medical school to Florida," Travis Proctor, who chairs Florida Tech’s board of trustees, said during a Thursday morning press event at the Denius Student Center.
"It brings Brevard County its first medical school — a critical resource when you consider that it is determined that Florida will be short approximately 18,000 physicians by 2035," Proctor said.
"Additionally, this is a tremendous opportunity for Brevard County and for the Space Coast to have the resources of a world-class medical school right here on campus," he said.
Burrell College operates under a shared-services partnership with New Mexico State University. That's where the medical school built an 80,000-square-foot building on the NMSU campus, adjacent to the football stadium. The Florida Tech partnership is tailored along similar lines.
"We will be able to utilize the library at Florida Tech through our relationship with Florida Tech. Student housing will be afforded. Student dining. The health center. And it's really how you can collaborate, versus duplicate, resources," Hummer said.
The Florida Tech-Burrell College medical school will occupy about 40,000 square feet inside L3Harris Commons, where renovations are underway to add classrooms, an anatomy lab, an osteopathic manipulative-medicine lab, and a clinical skills lab, said Dr. Bill Pieratt, Burrell College dean and chief academic officer.
Pieratt said the clinical skills lab will feature "high-fidelity teaching mannequins." Students will also learn skills using mock patients in various medical scenarios.
Nine Burrell College full-time faculty members will staff the Melbourne medical school, Pieratt said, while community physicians will teach on campus and in clinical environments. All told, about 50 faculty and support staffers from both institutions will work there.
Florida Tech pre-med students will be guaranteed admission into Burrell College if they meet established academic criteria, Interim President Robert King said.
In a press release, the universities detailed the demand for medical school graduates:
Florida will be short about 18,000 physicians by 2035, the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida and Florida Hospital Association reported.
Only 32% of Florida’s population has adequate primary care — and nearly half of primary-care physicians are expected to retire in 15 to 20 years, the Association of American Medical Colleges reported.
As of 2021, the AAMC found 47% of Florida-based medical school graduates practiced medicine in Florida, while 79% of physicians who completed both medical school and residencies in Florida remained in the state to practice.
“We desperately need the next generation of highly trained physicians around Florida and across our nation,” Florida Tech Interim President Robert King said in the press release.
“This affiliation with the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine allows Florida Tech and its students to be part of the solution to one of the biggest challenges facing our society today — ensuring adequate access to high-quality medical professionals. We are excited about the prospects," King said.
Each graduating class will number 100 students during the medical school's initial years. Hummer provided economic estimates that predict a student body of 400 will generate $14 million in community spending per year, assuming average spending of $35,000 per student.
Hummer estimated the Melbourne medical school will generate a total economic impact of $22.6 million per year.
To date, Burrell’s New Mexico campus has graduated 430 osteopathic physicians. Of those graduates, 99.5% have been successfully placed into medical and surgical residency training programs.
Osteopathic medicine emphasizes a holistic approach to help patients achieve a high level of wellness by focusing on health promotion and disease prevention, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.
Historically, the majority of osteopathic medical school graduates choose a career in primary care, said Dr. John Potomski of Brevard Geriatrics in downtown Melbourne.
A district president with the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, Potomski also chairs the Brevard County Commission on Aging.
“When I came to Brevard County 40 years ago, there were only four active osteopathic physicians — three of whom have gone to their eternal reward, and one having retired many years ago," Potomski said.
"I am therefore very excited about the future of osteopathic medicine in Brevard County with the development of a four-year medical school here on the campus of the Florida Institute of Technology," he said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida Tech, Burrell College to launch medical school in Melbourne
