A Brief History

Oakland University (Oakland) and Beaumont Hospital (Beaumont) were founded at approximately the same time, half a century ago, in close proximity to each other and in a region of greater Detroit. Today, Oakland is one of 15 public universities in Michigan. Oakland has an enrollment exceeding 18,000 students and a Carnegie classification of doctoral/research university-intensive. Meanwhile, Beaumont has flourished into a three-hospital regional healthcare provider. Beaumont is now a 1700-bed tertiary care, teaching, research and referral hospital system.

Oakland and Beaumont both recognized the negative impact that a physician shortage would have on the quality of health care available to the residents of Michigan. Following exploratory discussions, including discussions with community leaders, it was concluded that the combined faculty, staff and infrastructure resources of Oakland and Beaumont provide a remarkably strong base on which to build a new medical school to help satisfy the demand for physicians in Michigan and the nation. In January 2007, Oakland and Beaumont submitted a letter of intent to the LCME to initiate the formal process of accrediting a new allopathic medical school. The initiative to fund a new medical school was approved by both the Beaumont Hospital Board of Directors and the Oakland University Board of Trustees on July 31, 2008.