Morgan State University (MSU) in Baltimore—Maryland’s largest historically Black college or university (HBCU)—has announced a two-year, $1.75 million award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help launch a new medical school.
The funding will support the comprehensive planning phase for MSU to launch a public, nonprofit medical school—the first of its kind at a Maryland HBCU. MSU aims to expand opportunities for students from groups underrepresented in the profession, produce more physicians committed to practicing in underserved communities, and strengthen the healthcare workforce pipeline across the state and country. A timeline for developing the school was not provided.
According to MSU, by 2034 the United States may have a shortage of 48,000 primary care physicians—a gap that will affect already underserved communities the hardest. Even as 86 percent of physicians who identify as being from underrepresented minorities focus their practice in what are described as “Health Professional Shortage Areas,” that cohort represents just 11 percent of all physicians.
“This investment represents a pivotal moment for Morgan and for the communities we serve,” said MSU president David K. Wilson. “We are charting a new course toward a public, nonprofit M.D. program that will train physicians where they are most needed, close gaps in care, and reflect the diversity of the populations served.”
