Lahey Hospital and Medical Center will change its academic affiliation from Tufts University School of Medicine to UMass Chan Medical School, with plans to establish a new regional medical campus in Burlington.
The hospital, which is part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, and the medical school announced on Thursday that they had signed a letter of intent to explore the collaboration. The duo would need to sign a formal agreement and receive accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, but executives hope to welcome the first class of students to the program in the summer of 2024.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will retain its academic affiliation with Harvard Medical School, and the academic affiliations of the system’s other hospitals will not change.
The hospital’s move away from Tufts comes a few months after Tufts University School of Medicine tightened its relationship with Tufts Medicine, the health system formerly known as Wellforce.
However, Lahey executives said they had undertaken a request for proposals recently to redefine its academic approach, in light of the pandemic and its 100th anniversary next year.
“This process was spawned by us reflecting on who we are and what our vision is moving forward,” said Dr. David Longworth, president of Lahey Hospital and Medical Center.
Of the half-dozen organizations that submitted proposals, UMass offered the most compelling plan, according to Lahey. In the new program, 40 medical students per year would undertake their core curriculum with the UMass Chan Medical School and complete third- and fourth-year clinical rotations and additional curricular content at Lahey. The program would have a focus on leadership, health system science, and interprofessional education — or team-based medical care.
“Today we are one of multiple training sites for Tufts. But not a regional medical campus. A medical campus is a dedicated site that trains students comprehensively throughout their medical school training,” Longworth said.
The campus would be the second regional campus for UMass Chan, which has a similar partnership with Baystate Health, in addition to its flagship program at UMass Memorial Health.
As part of the affiliation, Lahey and UMass Chan would also form a new research collaboration called the Institute for Healthcare Delivery Science, with plans to establish a research hub.
Jessica Bartlett can be reached at jessica.bartlett@globe.com. Follow her @ByJessBartlett.