Arizona State University (ASU) announced the preliminary accreditation and naming of its new medical school, now called the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering. The announcement comes with a significant donation from ASU alumnus John Shufeldt, marking it as the second largest gift in the university’s history.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the official accrediting body for U.S. medical degree programs, granted preliminary accreditation to the school. This milestone allows ASU to begin recruiting students for its first class, set to start in fall 2026. LCME accreditation is necessary for students to qualify for federal financial aid, residency programs, and licensure exams.
“While it is something we expected, accreditation is not to be taken lightly,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “We are grateful to LCME and to our team that has been working tirelessly to help make that happen.”
Crow also highlighted the impact of Shufeldt’s investment: “John Shufeldt is the embodiment of the kind of student we want to produce. He is a doctor, an entrepreneur developing new things that impact people’s health and well-being, and is always looking ahead. He sees the scale of ASU Health impacting all of Arizona and beyond, and he sees the unique design of a school focused on both medicine and engineering. He is not only contributing financially and lending his name — he is giving his time and talent to what we are building here.”
Shufeldt has a diverse background as an emergency medicine physician, entrepreneur, and professor at ASU. He holds an MD, JD, MBA (’95), JD (’05), and Six Sigma Black Belt from ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (2015). His ventures include founding NextCare urgent care clinics, MeMD telehealth provider, and Tribal Health aimed at addressing health disparities in Indigenous communities.
“For decades I’ve worked at the intersection of medicine, business, law and innovation. I’ve seen where the systems work from the inside, and where they don’t work,” said Shufeldt. “But one truth with a capital T stands out to me: We don’t simply need more physicians. What we do need are more physicians who can innovate, who are leaders, who can do it with a high degree of compassion. That’s why I’m so excited about the new school at ASU, because I know that’s what we’ll be teaching.”
The curriculum will integrate medicine with engineering over four years; students will earn both an MD and a Master of Science in medical engineering concurrently. The program aims to train future health professionals skilled in AI tools and data science alongside clinical practice.
Dr. Holly Lisanby serves as founding dean of the new school. She emphasized how students will receive interdisciplinary training: “Our students are going to be fully immersed in both cultures from the very beginning… They’ll learn how to read both literatures and how to work with faculty and mentors who are not just coming from clinical fields and engineering but also entrepreneurship and the VC sector so that they will be physician-engineer-entrepreneurs who will really transform the future of health care.”
In addition to funding operations for the school itself, Shufeldt’s donation will create an endowed professorship focused on entrepreneurship in medicine as well as establish a venture philanthropy fund managed by ASU Foundation.
The John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering forms part of ASU Health, which includes several colleges dedicated to health-related disciplines headquartered within downtown Phoenix’s Phoenix Bioscience Core.
“Today’s news is another important step forward in building the learning ecosystem that is ASU Health,” said Dr. Sherine Gabriel, executive vice president of ASU Health.
Arizona Board of Regents Chair Doug Goodyear added: “The board challenged our universities to accelerate efforts to address Arizona’s health care workforce shortages, and ASU has answered that call to action… With generous support from John Shufeldt…the vision of an engineering-focused medical school is now a reality.”
Until construction finishes on its headquarters—scheduled for completion by 2028—the new medical school will operate out of Mercado in downtown Phoenix.
“This isn’t for me. This isn’t about legacy. It’s about impact,” said Shufeldt. “It’s about training the kind of leaders that I wish I had when I was going through this process as a physician starting out…ASU is not only the right place to do this; it may be the only place because it is already redefining what a public university can be.”
This initiative aligns with ongoing projects involving technology innovation at Arizona State University such as partnerships between city agencies like Phoenix Street Transportation Department with tech startups launched by ASU graduates.
Those interested in applying for fall 2026 admission can find further information on the school’s website.
