GNO, Inc. Sunday Night Highlight – Xavier and Ochsner Announce First HBCU Medical School in 50 Years

Xavier University, one of the top-ranked HBCU’s in America, and Ochsner Health, Louisiana’s largest private employer, have announced that they are partnering to form a new medical school, the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM).  XOCOM will be the only HBCU medical school in the Gulf South, and just the fifth one nationally.  The last HBCU medical school to open was Morehouse in 1975.

The goal of XOCOM, officials say, is to train doctors “who authentically mirror the communities they serve.”  Black doctors make up 5.7% of the country’s physicians, according to Xavier and Ochsner, while Black Americans represent 13.6% of the U.S. population.  More generally, the U.S. is projected to have physician shortages in 2030, with Louisiana having one of the greatest shortages nationally, according to a medical forecast.

Xavier, the country’s only historically Black Catholic university, produces more Black students who earn medical degrees and doctorates in health sciences than any other higher education institution in the nation, the school says.  Heretofore, many of those students went to medical school outside of New Orleans and Louisiana.  Now, they will have a chance to stay in the region to earn their medical degree.

XOCOM will open when it has preliminary accreditation; officials are starting the process this year, and it normally takes three years.  The new school will be housed in Benson Tower in downtown New Orleans.

You can read more about the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine here.