Sept. 5, 2025
Contact: Christopher Ave, Christopher.Ave@missouri.edu
The University of Missouri Board of Curators voted Friday to approve an expansion at the School of Medicine’s clinical campus in Springfield into a full four-year medical program. The plan will next go before both the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), the national accrediting body for all allopathic medical schools in the United States, and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the University of Missouri's institutional accreditor.
“The University of Missouri has the vital responsibility and great privilege to serve the entire state,” UM Board of Curators Chair Todd Graves said. “By expanding our education, research and clinical care opportunities in Springfield, we strengthen our commitment to the people of southwest Missouri and our healthcare partners in the region. This expansion also underscores that continued investment in the University of Missouri is an investment in our state.”
The School of Medicine's Springfield program, which opened in 2016, currently welcomes 28 third-year students and 28 fourth-year students each year. They complete clinical rotations through partnerships with CoxHealth and Mercy Springfield Communities. These students spend their first two years of medical school of classroom instruction in Columbia.
In 2027, the new Springfield campus will welcome its first class of first-year students. By fall of 2030, the Springfield campus will have four classes of 32 students – 128 in total – undertaking classroom instruction and clinical rotations. The expansion will bring the total enrollment of medical students across Columbia and Springfield to more than 670 students.
“With this expansion, our university will lead the way in addressing the state’s critical physician shortage, particularly in rural areas,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi said. “With the approval of this plan to expand instruction at our Springfield campus, we will more than double the number of medical students enrolled there and prepare the next generation of rural health care providers.”
Curriculum on the Columbia and Springfield campuses will be identical, including some lectures that will be livestreamed and recorded bi-directionally from and to both campuses. There will be shared faculty resources and an expanded simulation lab, ensuring a consistent experience across both sites.
“Medical students will soon be able to complete all four years of their medical education in Springfield with clinical rotations in the region,” said Richard J. Barohn, executive vice chancellor for health affairs and the Hugh E. and Sarah D. Stephenson dean of the School of Medicine. “It’s an opportunity to learn medicine in a close-knit community while remaining fully connected to the resources of a major research university.”
This expansion is just another example of the University of Missouri meeting the needs of rural Missourians. The School of Medicine also recently received nearly $8 million in federal grants to support clinical rural immersion programs for medical students as well as telemedicine delivery.
The associate dean of the Springfield Clinical Campus, David Haustein, will continue to oversee the Springfield campus.
The LCME is expected to make its determination on the expansion plan in early 2026.
