Leadership signals emphasize keeping training in-state and tailoring community-based medical education through strong rural health partnerships and local workforce development.

Delaware is launching its first four-year medical school, backed by a $78 million Rural Health Transformation Program grant, to expand access to care and address physician shortages.

The program will be run in partnership with Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and the Delaware Medical School Consortium, with pre-clinical work in New Castle County and clinical training across Kent and Sussex counties.

The school could open as early as fall 2028, with Sussex County among possible sites and a final location yet to be decided.

Applications are anticipated to open next year, with courses starting in summer 2028, and the program pursuing LCME accreditation to establish a Delaware-based medical education path.

The plan entails broad collaboration among Delaware’s higher education and healthcare institutions, with attention to accreditation, enrollment, and community partnerships as the project evolves.

ChristianaCare could join later, but its initial exclusion drew disappointment from that system and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, who stress the importance of meaningful clinical partnerships.

By 2030, the goal is for the school to become self-sustaining without further state funding, relying on philanthropy and partnerships to keep tuition affordable and costs controlled.

State and local officials, health leaders, and universities will collaborate, building on a non-binding agreement from late 2025 to explore a regional campus.

Officials frame the project as addressing aging populations and persistent healthcare workforce shortages, with potential rural benefits and expanded primary care.

The initiative involves collaboration among Delaware-based academic institutions and healthcare systems and is expected to outline accreditation, enrollment timelines, and community partnerships as planning progresses.

Delaware had prior discussions with Jefferson, including a 2025 non-binding memorandum of understanding outlining a phased path toward the four-year school and potential branch campuses, with Delaware leading planning and funding during development.