The School of Medicine and Health Sciences will establish a regional medical campus at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, according to a release.

GW and LifeBridge Health –  a Maryland-based company that manages Sinai Hospital – announced in a release that they signed an agreement that will allow a cohort of 30 third- and fourth-year medical students to study at the hospital starting in the spring. SMHS Dean and CEO of the Medical Faculty Associates Barbara Bass said in the release that GW medical students have been studying at Sinai Hospital as a clinical rotation site for several years and officials hope some students will continue their studies there.

“This is an exciting new chapter for the GW SMHS MD program – and we are thrilled to partner with LifeBridge Health to expand our presence outside of D.C. and to establish guaranteed access for clinical training of a cohort of our students in an environment that is different than the main campus experience and complementary to the clinical public health focus of the SMHS curriculum,” Bass said in the release.

LifeBridge also has similar agreements with other institutions like the University of Maryland and Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities, as Maryland tries to attract younger medical professionals to the state where almost half of the active physicians are over the age of 55, according to a 2018 study by the Robert Graham Center.

Bass said the new regional campus will give GW students access to medical technology and community health programs that are not necessarily available in Foggy Bottom.

“The new RMC will establish a long-term relationship between GW and LifeBridge Health and we hope will foster additional strategic partnerships, research collaborations, and training opportunities for other GW learners,” she said.

Students enrolled in the program will need to spend two years of instruction on SMHS’s Foggy Bottom campus before being allowed to complete a one-year clerkship and specialty elective courses at Sinai Hospital, according to the release. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education will accredit the new through the already-existing Maryland programs and faculty at the new campus will also receive appointments at SMHS, according to the release.

Niel Meltzer, LifeBridge Health’s president and CEO, said the partnership will allow students and faculty to participate in medical research that will benefit the local Baltimore community.

“At LifeBridge Health, these medical students will be able to take advantage of cutting-edge innovation and unique learning experiences that we can offer within our multi-faceted, community-focused health system,” he said in the release. “We look forward to welcoming the first cohort of GW students to LifeBridge Health and broadening the relationship that we have with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.”