Xavier Ochsner College Of Medicine, The Nation's Fifth Historically Black Medical Institution, Receives Preliminary Accreditation To Address Physician Shortage

Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine has reached a new milestone.

According to a press release, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education granted preliminary accreditation to the college, located in the New Orleans BioDistrict. Students will soon be able to enroll in the college’s inaugural class, scheduled for 2027.

Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine is the nation’s fifth historically Black medical institution and the only HBCU medical school in the Gulf South, per the press release. It formed in 2024 and combines the experience of Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health in areas such as preparing learners for careers in medicine, patient care, and medical education. Having earned candidate status in 2025, LCME visited the institution in June 2026 and determined it had met the requirements for preliminary accreditation.

Both institutions share a commitment to improving health outcomes. Investing in students at HBCUs strengthens the pipeline of future healthcare professionals, and as these schools train almost 70% of the country’s Black physicians, graduates are more likely to return to and serve communities with significant healthcare needs, according to information shared with AFROTECH™.

Students at Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine will also play a key role in addressing the U.S. physician shortage, which the Health Resources and Services Administration projects will exceed 141,000 by 2038. Louisiana is among the states most affected by the shortage.

“This is a historic moment for Xavier University of Louisiana, for New Orleans and for the future of medicine in this nation,” said Reynold Verret, Ph.D., president of Xavier University, in a press release. “For a century, Xavier has demonstrated what is possible when academic excellence is joined with a profound commitment to human dignity and service. The Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine is a bold extension of that legacy.”

He continued, “We are not simply opening the doors of a new medical school; we are expanding who will have the opportunity to become a physician, strengthening the communities those physicians will serve and helping to shape the future of healthcare for generations to come. Preliminary accreditation brings us to a moment envisioned through years of work, partnership and resolve, and it affirms Xavier’s enduring belief that education can transform not only individual lives but the health and well-being of our nation.”