Committed to education excellence

Building on a national reputation for educational excellence and decades of biomedical discoveries, Virtua Health College is preparing the health care workforce of tomorrow.

Our schools are: 

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine

Together, Rowan University and Virtua Health are creating a new learning environment to empower students, health care providers and researchers to improve health and wellness for all. 

With 45 years of distinction and commitment to excellent medical education and research, the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, the state’s only osteopathic medical school, is ranked among the best DO schools in the nation. With two campuses—Stratford and Sewell—SOM is focused on meeting critical needs in primary care with a focus on the whole patient, a key principle of osteopathic practice. 

The school has established nationally acclaimed education, research and clinical programs serving children, older adults and special needs populations.

Two pre-clerkship curriculum tracks distinguish the SOM education: Synergistic Guided Learning and Problem-Based Learning. Both programs feature small group sessions, standardized patient encounters, simulators, a year-one preceptor program and community-involved primary care projects.

As its primary affiliation with Virtua Health assures that Rowan students will enjoy more clerkships, residencies and fellowship opportunities within Virtua, Rowan will continue collaborating with health systems throughout the region to provide aspiring physicians with clinical experience in clerkships and residency programs.

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Complementing the medical school, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is South Jersey's premier center for biomedical research. Located on Rowan University's Stratford campus, the school’s state-of-the-art research facilities and classrooms prepare scientists and aspiring medical professionals to make critical contributions in anatomical sciences, biomedical sciences, histopathology, molecular cell biology & neuroscience and molecular pathology & immunology. The offerings also include a dual physician-scientist (D.O./Ph.D.) degree in molecular cell biology & neuroscience.

Rita & Larry Salva School of Nursing & Health Professions

Together, Rowan University and Virtua Health are creating a new learning environment to empower students, health care providers and researchers to improve health and wellness for all. 

Integrating two well-established education programs and building upon them, the Rita & Larry Salva School of Nursing and Health Professions equips health and wellness professionals and enhances their skills and collaborative capacity to provide care and expertise. Programs include: 

• undergraduate and graduate degrees and specialized certificates for nurses
• undergraduate degrees in exercise science, nutrition, public health and wellness, wellness management, health studies, and fitness management
• graduate degrees in athletic training, nutrition and dietetics, and wellness & lifestyle management.

Our Lady of Lourdes School of Nursing is dedicated to providing a learner-centered environment that develops competent, compassionate and knowledgeable professional nurses for entry into practice. 

The Salva School of Nursing & Health Professions currently offers an RN to BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program affiliated with Rowan College of South Jersey, Rowan College at Burlington County and Camden County College-Our Lady of Lourdes School of Nursing. 

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences

The newly established School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences brings together life science and engineering researchers from throughout Rowan and Virtua to translate innovation and discovery into everyday practice. As the focal point of research for Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences, the school leverages Rowan’s strengths and existing degree programs while cultivating new faculty, research institutes, degree programs and partnerships.

Developing as a national leader in health care discovery and innovation, the school will foster the evolution, translation and dissemination of novel technologies, therapies and discoveries to advance health for all people—while training the research leaders of tomorrow. 

Here, novel research and solutions to real-world problems are cornerstones of our programs, leading to new knowledge, therapies and devices and well-prepared students ready to make a positive impact on the world. Our faculty-researchers develop new medical devices, new therapies and improved treatments for patients with innovative research and lead projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, private foundations and biotechnology companies. 

Life science and engineering research and education have increased substantially at Rowan in the last 10 years as our engineers and scientists provide solutions to current problems and coming challenges. Now, with support and collaboration from Virtua Health, the school advances rapidly, recruiting 25 leading faculty and clinician researchers by 2025 and doubling that within a decade. Three emerging institutes—the Institute for Health Equity, the Cardiovascular Institute, and the Institute for Regenerative Medicine & Transplantation—are initial areas of focus within the school, building on existing Rowan and Virtua aptitudes.

Programs in life science and engineering include doctoral, graduate and undergraduate programs in cell and molecular biology, translational biomedical sciences, biomedical engineering and others, including dual physician scientist and engineering programs in health sciences and engineering.