Jefferson announces new Allentown medical school campus
The campus will offer the same curriculum as Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Center City.
Thomas Jefferson University is bringing its medical education offerings to Allentown, with a new four-year regional campus set to enroll students in 2029, officials announced Monday.
The site will offer the same curriculum as Jefferson’s main campus in Center City, including the same assessment standards, learning objectives, and graduation requirements.
Once opened, the Allentown location of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College will mark the school’s second regional expansion. The university announced plans last month to open Delaware’s first four-year medical school in 2028.
University leaders hope the move will create pathways for workforce development in the Lehigh Valley and help meet regional healthcare needs.
“Physicians are more likely to practice where they train,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “Establishing a four-year campus of Sidney Kimmel Medical College in the Lehigh Valley will expand opportunities for medical education, strengthen regional connections, and build a pipeline of physicians who are committed to serving this community for generations.”
What is known so far
The new regional campus will reside at One Center Square in downtown Allentown and span more than 54,000 square feet.
Students will complete clinical training at Jefferson Health – Lehigh Valley region hospitals and outpatient practices.
The regional campus will enroll 45 students starting in July 2029 — slightly more than the Delaware campus’ 40 students in 2028. Last year, the incoming class in Center City included 286 students.
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Jefferson declined to comment on the cost of the new regional campus.
The university also announced plans in May to expand other academic programs to the Lehigh Valley this fall, including graduate-level nursing education, paramedicine, and respiratory therapy programs.
Local politicians celebrated the expansion for its potential to recruit future healthcare workers to the region.
“An Allentown School District student with a dream to be a doctor can do pre-med at Cedar Crest College and now stay in Allentown for her MD. A Muhlenberg College student who comes from Puerto Rico or Connecticut who falls in love with Allentown can become a doctor right here and stay here,” Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said in a statement.