Xavier and Ochsner Health to create joint Xavier-Ochsner College of Medicine

March 13, 2023

By Tyana Jackson, Staff Writer

Xavier University of Louisiana announced earlier this semester that it will form a joint Xavier-Ochsner College of Medicine in partnership with Ochsner Health. Historically there have been about nine medical schools founded by HBCUs. Xavier’s will become the sixth currently active medical college alongside institutions such as Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry’s Medical College, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, and Morgan State University.

“One of the key points for a strong medical school is to have the long-term commitment of clinical sites for our students where they can not only learn medicine but do medicine,” said Dr. Reynold Verret, Xavier’s President.

In addition to the long-term partnership with Xavier and Ochsner Health, the joint College of Medicine will work to address the disparities within the healthcare industry. The partnership has already established the Ochsner Health and Xavier University Institute for Health Equity and Research, and programs like the Physician Assistant (PA) Program, where full-time graduate students can earn a Master’s degree in Health Sciences, and the Master of Science in Health Informatics program, as part of the joint efforts of the Institute.

“For students of color interested in pursuing medical careers, we would say that your service is acutely needed in communities all over the nation, and particularly here in the Gulf South,” said Dr. Leonardo Seoane, the executive vice president and chief academic officer for Ochsner Health. “We commend your interest in entering a career of service, in which you will be given the opportunity to enhance the delivery of high-quality healthcare in diverse and underserved healthcare environments, improve the communities we live in, and change and save your patients’ lives,” Seoane said.

This partnership will increase the overall health equity for the state of Louisiana while providing students the space to grow and improve their skill set as they become doctors and physicians. Xavier and Ochsner currently serve on a statewide task force to move Louisiana out of one of the lowest ranks in the nation for healthcare, over the next ten years.

“We have worked with Ochsner Health on a number of other academic programs, and I am confident that, by working together, the medical school curriculum that we develop will produce exceptional doctors who will make an impact in the New Orleans community and beyond,” said Dr. Marguerite S. Giguette, Xavier’s interim provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs.

“This medical school will not only provide our undergraduates interested in medicine with another choice for an excellent medical education, but it will also provide more research opportunities for our faculty and our students,” Giguette said.

As Xavier’s centennial year approaches in 2025, many changes are occurring to improve the preservation of historic buildings on campus. Growing the university’s resources in the community is also part of that centennial goal as well. Less than five percent of physicians in the country come from underrepresented communities. Verret said that within three to five years, Xavierites can expect to see progress for the Xavier-Ochsner College of Medicine.

“The mission of Xavier, to build a more just and humane society, is a calling that requires every generation of Xavierites to look hard and see how they wish to be of service,” Verret said. “I think right now we are asking ourselves, in health equity spaces, what do we need to do to be of service,” Verret added.

“And we need to think about how can we make this society better and stronger for everyone. I think this is the missing piece that describes what we were called to do,” he said.