Reshaping the future of medicine
Established in 2021, the Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences of Rowan University is an historic new academic health partnership between Rowan University, a top 100 public research institution, and Virtua Health, South Jersey’s largest health system.
As two of the region’s largest institutions, both Rowan and Virtua are leaders in higher education and health care, distinguished in the region and nationally—and united in a vision to improve the quality, experience and capabilities of health care for all people. Together, we are advancing research for the discovery of new treatments, breaking down barriers of inequality and access to care, resulting in the improved health and well-being of all.
Significant resources have been set aside to support this joint endeavor: an $85 million gift from Virtua Health, likely the largest endowment of its kind at a public university, and $125 million dedicated by Rowan, which will help attract and expand the University’s outstanding professionals and students, as well as build facilities on Rowan’s West Campus.
The college encompasses the state’s only osteopathic medical school; an expanded nursing and allied health professions school; a new school of translational biomedical engineering and sciences; multiple research institutes and centers; and aligned clinical practices to improve patient care and train the health care workforce, so they can be the leading caregivers of tomorrow.
Dedicated to improving health for all, the college will transform the practice of medicine using an approach that treats the whole person, not a disease. Driven by world-class physicians and researchers on the leading edge of science, the college aspires to become a national leader in health care education, discovery and innovation.
Our commitment
Integrity
Through each Virtua Health College collaboration and at each stage of health care education, innovation and providing care, Rowan-Virtua professionals will demonstrate our deepened commitment to helping all people live healthier, fuller lives. Our academic health partnership will be a model shaped by our continued devotion to core values—integrity, respect, caring, commitment, teamwork and excellence—that likewise guide our interactions with those we work with and care for.
Empowerment
We provide a unique and diverse learning environment that improves and empowers the health and well-being of all. Virtua Health College offers a team-based, hands-on learning experience focused on teaching and bettering all aspects of medicine. Our students and faculty have an intuitive ability to listen and connect to what matters most to patients and their health care experience. Ultimately, we are making an immediate and important impact on the health of our state and beyond.
Inclusivity
Through their individual organizations, Rowan Medicine and Virtua Health provide multidisciplinary health care services in South Jersey and at specialized clinical practices throughout the state. Rowan and Virtua have joined forces to advance clinical excellence and improve the health of New Jersey residents. By creating a new academic health partnership and collaborating at our locations, the partners aim to increase health equity by meeting the needs of the underserved in the region.
Excellence in discovery
The Rowan-Virtua partnership promises to further distinguish South Jersey as a regional hub for innovation, research and clinical discovery as it expands through the developing School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences. With support from the Virtua Health endowment, the school is recruiting 50 new faculty investigators, including basic and clinician scientists, over the next decade.
Looking Ahead
Three new institutes will research vital concerns in:
Health Equity
Health equity is achieved when all people have the opportunity to live their best, healthiest lives, regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender...
Cardiovascular Disease
Dedicated to studying cardiovascular disease and finding better treatments and preventative measures for heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and congenital heart disease...
Regenerative Medicine and Transplantation
Focused on cell and organ transplantation, cell, tissue and organ engineering, gene therapy, neuroregeneration...