Rowan’s Board of Trustees approved a motion to hire a consultant to conduct a feasibility study regarding the additional location of Rowan’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Atlantic City. The meeting this past Wednesday addressed several actions regarding the School of Osteopathic Medicine and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.

The decision made to engage a consultant was a voted upon unanimously by the Board of Trustees, which will call for an adviser to conduct a feasibility study regarding the construction of a new campus in Atlantic City, according to Joe Cardona, Vice President of University Relations. The study will help the partnership between AtlantiCare and Rowan to determine whether it is wise to move forward in planning the construction of a campus near the medical center.

“It means we would be training future physicians, all four years [to graduate], in Atlantic City in partnership with the medical center AtlantiCare,” said Dr. Thomas A. Cavalieri, the dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine. “It’s very important because we face a physician shortage. In fact, it’s projected that the state of New Jersey, by the year 2020, will be short 3,000 physicians, so to increase our capacity to train physicians helps to respond to that need.”

If approved for construction, the campus would provide students and faculty internships and research opportunities. The campus would most likely be in close proximity to the AtlantiCare center. Cavalieri also went on to talk about how the programs in Glassboro would prepare students for entering medical school by taking the appropriate courses provided in the area.

“I think it will give increased opportunity for New Jerseyans who want to pursue a career in medicine to be able to access that training right here,” Cavalieri said about the opportunities the Atlantic City campus could create. “Of course our hope will be these students will do residency programs in New Jersey and then practice in New Jersey.”