Greetings From the Dean

Welcome to the home of the Healers, Leaders, and Scholars. The CUNY School of Medicine is the only public medical school in Manhattan and the first to be founded in New York City since 1865.

As the chief executive officer who leads education, research, and clinical operations at CUNY School of Medicine, I am proud of our School’s passion and commitment to ensuring excellence in medical education. From the inception of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education in 1973, to our transformation into the CUNY School of Medicine in 2016, our innovative curriculum and mission have focused on eliminating educational and health disparities, increasing diversity in medical professions, and meeting the healthcare needs of underserved communities.

A core CUNY School of Medicine value is that representation matters. We have successfully enhanced the health professions by strategically removing barriers to entry. Today, we are the only medical school in New York that does not require the MCAT for entrance. Through our mission-aligned admissions process, CUNY School of Medicine is a national and state leader in producing health professionals who are underrepresented in medicine. Our admissions process, coupled with our groundbreaking Brothers, M.D., Initiative is helping change face and future of medicine. Brothers is part of the CUNY-wide Black Male Initiative effort.

Our medical school continues to benefit greatly from the pioneering work of Dr. H. Jack Geiger, one of our founding faculty members. A two-time Nobel laureate, he helped define the important role of social determinants on health and well-being and developed Physicians for Human Rights. Our core mission is to educate and train the next generation of medical professionals who are supremely competent, excellent, and represent the rich mosaic of New York City. We understand and proactively seek to address the continued behavioral and social determinants that negatively impact health and well-being. CUNY School of Medicine recruits and provides health-professional students with access to our mission-driven faculty experts; compassionate and humanistic mentoring; and incorporation of community relevance in everything that we do. Each year, our faculty, students, and staff compete successfully for research funding. In fact, the medical school received the largest NIH grant in CUNY history and has climbed 20 spots in NIH funding among its peers. We also promote and provide an extensive network of clinical and educational opportunities for medical and health sciences students.

Through our commitment to narrative medicine and improving student skills to improve patient outcomes, we provide undergraduate, medical, post-baccalaureate, and Physician Assistant students with an outstanding education in both the art and science of medicine.

The CUNY School of Medicine embodies inter-professional education that enables our health professionals to learn about, from, and with each other to create more effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. Our faculty provides an exceptional education program for nearly 700 BS/MD and PA students each year.

Since our inception as the Sophie Davis School we have called Harlem home. Our 7-year BS/MD curriculum is a pathway program that begins with a rigorous three-year accelerated BS in biomedical science program that gives students the opportunity to enter our four-year MD program, without further entrance exams via our mission-aligned admissions. Founded at Harlem Hospital in 1973, our MS in Physician Assistant Studies program is one of the oldest public PA programs in in the United States.

CUNY School of Medicine’s dedication to primary care and serving the medically underserved is authentic and longstanding. Our alumni provide high-quality healthcare for people in each of New York City’s five boroughs, as well as hospitals and clinics throughout New York State. In this way, we have a pivotal role in producing an outstanding primary care workforce and serving in health professional shortage areas in New York and beyond.

We thank you for your interest in the CUNY School of Medicine and invite you to explore our many educational and research opportunities. Come see how CUNY School of Medicine is creating the healers, leaders, and scholars who advocate for educational and healthcare equity.