Paul Katz named founding dean of Rowan University's medical school
The Philadelphia Inquirer
June 10, 2010
Paul Katz, who recently helped start a medical school in Scranton, was tapped Wednesday to be founding dean of another medical start-up: the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden.
"There hasn't been a lot of opportunity in the last 50 years to create a new medical school," said Katz, 62, a rheumatologist who will make $500,000 a year in Camden. "What was most attractive was the ability to create a new school."
The six-story building, which is set to open in the fall of 2012, will enter a competitive world. Philadelphia boasts five medical schools, not to mention the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which has an osteopathic campus in Stratford.
But health-care needs are growing. Nationally, nearly two dozen medical schools have opened in recent years or are in planning stages. And many existing schools are expanding - all to meet an expected doctor shortage and a graying of the population.
The new federal health bill is also expected to increase the need for doctors.
"We all just don't want to be the 134th medical school in the country," said Katz at a news conference announcing his appointment. "We want to be a leader."
