New ASU medical school welcomes inaugural class, combining engineering and medicine

Arizona State University’s new medical school opened in early August, combining medical and engineering practices for its first cohort of students.

The John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering is on ASU’s downtown Phoenix campus.

Students who graduate from the college’s four-year program will earn both a medical degree and a medical engineering master’s degree.

Andrew Kotz is one of the 36 students in the inaugural class. He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and said he chose to pursue a medical career after volunteering at a nursing home.

“It started to feel like a great intersection between the problem-solving side of myself and also the service-oriented, very human side that eventually drove me to patient care,” he said.

New ASU medical school feels like a community, student says

Kotz said students are already working with live patients as the school year begins, including practicing cardiac and pulmonary exams in the first few classes.

He said that although the inaugural class is small, it’s an environment that feels like a community of like-minded people from diverse backgrounds, with students ranging in age from 19 to 33.

“There’s a real sense of responsibility that comes with being the first class, too. The future culture and the future traditions that our medical students will have will partially be shaped by what our class starts,” he said.

The school has one of the highest concentrations of engineers at a medical school in the country, according to Kotz, something that could help shape the specialty each student selects.

Kotz wants engineering to play a direct role in his future career, saying extensive knowledge of new technology will be helpful for improving imaging or patient care systems.

Plans for ASU medical school were announced three years ago

Plans for the ASU medical school were announced in June 2023.

It was named for Dr. John Shufeldt, the founder of NextCare, MeMD and Tribal Health, after he made a nine-figure donation last year.

The medical school is the centerpiece of a wider initiative called ASU Health, which includes the School of Technology for Public Health and other programs.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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