Brigham Young University’s plans for its much-anticipated medical school are marching forward, including a scheduled campus visit this month from accreditors.
That marks the next and most significant step in the school being able to open.
BYU, which is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced in July 2024 that it intended to launch its own medical school — which would be the fourth in the state. Since then, the private Provo school has been mostly mum on major updates.
A notice on the university’s website, though, notes the survey visit. It adds that the Liaison Committee on Medical Education — the body that accredits all academic Doctor of Medicine, or M.D., degree programs in the U.S. — has granted BYU “candidate status.” It’s the first hurdle after a university submits its intensive application.
Preliminary recognition only comes once candidate status is granted and after a survey visit. Once approved, a school can start enrolling students into its provisionally recognized program.
(There are then requirements for provisional status before full accreditation, plus annual requirements after that to maintain a program.)
Potential timeline
Receiving accreditation is a lengthy process, but BYU has been moving forward at a quick clip.
A decision from the accrediting body typically comes about six months after a survey visit, according to a review of other medical school openings across the country. That could mean approval by the end of this year for BYU. And that would likely put students starting classes at fall 2027.
The notice on BYU’s website doesn’t specify when this month the accreditors will visit. BYU spokesperson Audrey Perry Martin didn’t address that when asked about updates.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, though, planned to speak at the Provo campus Tuesday for an “accreditation luncheon,” according to his public schedule for the week.
Perry Martin said in a statement that the lunch with Cox was “part of the normal process of accreditation.”
“It is not open to the public or press,” she noted, before directing The Salt Lake Tribune to BYU’s School of Medicine website for future updates.
The notice there says, “If granted, preliminary accreditation would authorize the school to recruit and admit students and launch the MD program.”
Cox’s office did not respond to a question from The Tribune. But he posted photos on social media Tuesday from his campus visit.
“It was great to visit with the leaders helping establish the @BYU School of Medicine, an investment in the next generation of physicians and healthcare leaders who will serve Utah families and neighborhoods for decades to come,” Cox wrote.
BYU hasn’t confirmed a formal timeline or opening date for the medical school. But there’s more reason to suggest classes could begin as soon as fall 2027.
Dr. David Morton, who runs a popular YouTube channel called “The Noted Anatomist,” announced in a video that he’s taking a position as a department head at BYU’s new school. Morton previously served as a vice chair of the U.’s medical school.
In the video, he said he anticipated a fall opening next year. He also mentioned the accrediting body’s planned summer visit. The trip, he said, comes after the university submitted plans on the design of the building and how the school of medicine will be financed.
“If we do get this preliminary accreditation, then we can start admitting students in the fall of this year to start the fall of next year,” Morton says.
What BYU has confirmed
Previously, BYU has announced the planned location of the medical school on the west end of its campus, near the old Provo High School and Intermountain Health’s Utah Valley Hospital.
It has also named its inaugural dean: Dr. Mark Ott, a renowned surgeon who studied at the University of Utah and has spent most of his career at Intermountain Health.
When the medical school was announced, the Latter-day Saint church’s governing First Presidency said the focus would be on “international health issues affecting members,” as well as “the church’s worldwide humanitarian efforts.”
The school will not include an associated hospital, like the University of Utah’s medical student program.
The church was previously involved in running hospitals, but it sold those in 1975 to Intermountain Health. Ott has worked at what was then renamed Intermountain LDS Hospital.
(Photo courtesy of Alora Lani) Pictured is Mark Ott, who will serve as the dean of BYU's medical school when it opens.
Both Intermountain Health, a not-for-profit healthcare system headquartered in Salt Lake City, and the U. have indicated their intent to partner with BYU’s new medical school when it comes online.
The U. has the largest medical school in the state, which is a public program and top-ranked in the nation.
The other two are private: Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine in Provo, and a branch of Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine near St. George. Those schools offer degrees in osteopathic medicine, or DOs, as opposed to MDs.