The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine is a medical school associated with the Kaiser Permanente health system and located in Pasadena, California. The school matriculated its inaugural class of 50 students in July 2020. In November 2019, the school was renamed in honor of late Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson.^[1]

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (November 2023)

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Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

Type	Allopathic private medical school
Established	2020
Parent institution	Kaiser Permanente
Dean	Mark Schuster
Location	Pasadena , California , United States
Campus	Suburban
Website	medschool.kp.org

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Kaiser Permanente created the school to train “future physicians in 21st century medicine.”^[2]  The school is using modern educational techniques and integrates the three disciplines of clinical, biomedical, and health system science. The school also emphasizes equity, inclusion, and diversity; service-learning; health promotion; student well-being; advocacy and leadership; interprofessional collaboration; and global health in its curricular experiences.^[3]

Kaiser Permanente announced its plan to start a medical school in December 2015.  Kaiser Permanente's vision for the school is to redesign physician education around the themes of patient-centered care, population health, quality improvement, team-based care, and health equity.^[4]  Kaiser Permanente has long been involved in graduate medical education: Kaiser Permanente's first independent residency program began in 1944, and it currently trains over 600 residents each year.^[5]

In 2017, Mark Schuster was named the medical school's founding dean and CEO. With funding from NIH, CDC, and AHRQ, he has studied topics such as quality of care, health disparities, family leave, sexual and gender minority health, obesity prevention, and adolescent sexual health. Schuster previously served as the William Berenberg Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and chief of general pediatrics and vice chair for health policy in the Department of Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital.^[6]

The school received preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in February 2019.^[7]  The school received candidacy from WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) in July 2021.^[8] The school will waive all tuition and fees for the full four years of medical school for its first five classes.^[9]

The school admitted 50 students in its inaugural class for the 2020-21 academic year, and another 50 students in its second class beginning in the 2021-22 academic year. It has one of the highest ratios of applications to available spots among all U.S. medical schools, with the resulting percentage of 0.5 percent for the 2021-22 admission cycle, the lowest in the US.^[12] The average student age is 24. A significant percentage of students are from groups underrepresented in medicine (36 percent for the class entering in 2020-21; 40 percent for 2021-22).^[13] Applications are accepted from U.S. citizens, permanent residents of the U.S. (green card holders), and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients . A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in the U.S. or Canada is required. The school uses a holistic review process.^[14]

The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine's main campus is in Pasadena, California, a city within Los Angeles County. The school occupies a four-story building designed to support student wellness and the school's collaborative curriculum.^[15] The building was designed by the Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign.^[16]

The school houses supportive and administrative functions in two adjacent buildings to the Medical Education Building.

Clinical training primarily takes place at six Kaiser Permanente medical centers in the greater Los Angeles area:

• Downey Medical Center
• San Bernardino County Medical Center
• Los Angeles Medical Center
• Panorama City Medical Center
• South Bay Medical Center
• West Los Angeles Medical Center

In their third and fourth years, students have the opportunity to learn at clinical sites in other parts of California and other regions across the country.^[17]  Additionally, there are service-learning curricula at federally qualified health centers near each clinical site.^[18]

The school provides a small group, case-based curriculum with a spiral progression.  Coursework integrates biomedical, clinical, and health systems sciences. Students begin clinical immersion experiences in their first year.^[19]

The school has three academic departments: biomedical science, clinical science, and health systems science. The departments' highest priority is education, and they also conduct research.^[24]