In a major development in the institution’s 168-year history, The City College of New York announces the establishment of the CUNY School of Medicine at City College in partnership with Bronx-based St. Barnabas Hospital (which is part of the SBH Health System).

The new Harlem-based medical school, whose first class is scheduled to begin fall 2016, will be an expansion of City College’s Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. Established in 1973 on the City College campus, the Sophie Davis School currently offers a unique seven-year BS/MD program that integrates an undergraduate education with the first two years of medical school.

The new medical school on the City College campus builds on the strong record of achievement of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education whose mission is recruiting underrepresented minorities into medicine, increasing medical care in historically underserved communities, and boosting the number of primary care physicians.

City College President Lisa S. Coico said the newly established school would nurture young students to embrace a career focused on caring for their fellow citizens with passion, empathy and respect.