For the first time, the Mayo Clinic plans to open a branch of its medical school outside Minnesota, at its medical facility in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The move, announced Tuesday, will effectively double the size of Mayo's medical school, which has historically enrolled only about 50 students a year in Rochester, Minn. The new campus will enroll 48 students per class, as part of a collaboration with Arizona State University.
In addition to their medical degrees, students at the Arizona campus also will earn a master's degree in the "Science of Health Care Delivery" from Arizona State.
The new program is an attempt "to redesign medical education in ways that align with the future of health care delivery," said Dr. Wyatt Decker, CEO of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. It will include coursework on health care policy, health economics and the "social and behavioral determinants of health," according to a Mayo news release.
Officials said this is believed to be the first program to offer the masters and medical degrees simultaneously.
Mayo said buildings on the Scottsdale campus will be remodeled for the new medical school. No opening date has been set.
The Mayo Clinic opened its medical school in Rochester in 1972.
MAURA LERNER
