BYU President Provides More Details About BYU Medical School

Nearly six weeks after the First Presidency announced the Church’s intention to build a medical school at its flagship university, BYU President C. Shane Reese issued an update providing further details in a letter posted on BYU News on Thursday, September 5.

Among other information, President Reese explained that BYU will provide a new building on its Provo, Utah, campus to accommodate the classroom instruction and administrative needs of the medical school.

Clinical training, however, will occur in multiple off-site hospital locations. “Conversations between Intermountain Health, the University of Utah, and others have been productive regarding the prospect of clinical collaborations,” he said.

He explained that a medical advisory team is also being created to help develop and solidify the plans related to new medical school.

Echoing the First Presidency’s original statement on July 29, BYU’s president also reiterated that the medical school will provide a “high quality, spiritually-based program that reinforces the mission of BYU and of the Church.”

It will focus on teaching and training with research in areas of strategic importance to the Church, such as international health issues and the Church’s worldwide humanitarian efforts.

President Reese expressed his appreciation for “the enthusiasm and outpouring of support for this exciting endeavor” and his intention to provide updated information to the campus community as plans continue to develop.

“Jesus Christ healed the sick and served those in need. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we believe BYU’s medical school is another way to lift God’s children,” President Reese said.

About BYU

The mission of Brigham Young University — which was founded and is supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life.

Founded in 1875 by Church President Brigham Young, the main campus sits on roughly 740 acres and is home to more than 35,000 students who come from 105 countries and all 50 U.S. states. In April 2024, BYU conferred 7,198 degrees — 283 doctoral degrees, 1,095 masters degrees and 5,820 bachelor’s degrees.

BYU graduate programs shine in annual U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings. BYU Law came in at No. 22 among all law schools in the 2023–2024 rankings, and the Marriott School of Business was ranked No. 35 among MBA programs. BYU comes in at No. 20 overall in the 2024 Best Colleges in America rankings from The Wall Street Journal.

Less than a year ago, as President Reese was inaugurated as the university’s 14th president, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, chairman of the executive committee of the BYU board of trustees, charged President Reese to help the university become “what prophets past and present have foreseen it would become.”

During his inaugural response, President Reese said he is awed by the prophetic guidance given to this university by latter-day prophets. Church President Spencer W. Kimball articulated “a powerful roadmap” for the future of BYU, calling it “the greatest institution of learning in all the world.”

More recently, then-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and past president of BYU taught that BYU will realize President Kimball’s vision “only to the degree it embraces its uniqueness, its singularity” and be a teaching institution “that is unequivocally true to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Read the announcement on Newsroom First Presidency Announces New Medical School for Brigham Young University