It’s official.
Following approval from the State of Ohio in January, Kettering Health (KH) has been designated a regional campus of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. It solidifies a long-running relationship between the two organizations and expands clinical training opportunities for medical students.
Kettering Health and Loma Linda University School of Medicine share an Adventist approach to health care that emphasizes healing of the whole person, including physical, emotional, and spiritual well‑being.
Loma Linda University School of Medicine students have completed clinical rotations at Kettering Health going back to the 1960s. Official recognition moves the program from proposed to fully approved. It formalizes a long‑standing educational connection and supports a shared commitment to training future physicians in an environment shaped by whole-person care.
“Our partnership with Kettering Health reflects our shared commitment to whole person care and mission-driven medical education,” said Tamara Thomas, MD, dean of Loma Linda University School of Medicine. “Together, we are educating physicians who combine clinical excellence with compassion and service, while helping address critical physician workforce needs in the communities we serve.”
Students will spend their first two years of basic science instruction at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, located in Southern California, 60 miles east of Los Angeles, before completing their third and fourth years at the Kettering Health campus in Ohio. The curriculum and training requirements remain standardized across both campuses so there is perfect alignment.
The relationship between the two organizations carries a lot of history. According to Lyndi Schwartz, MD, vice president of Medical Education at KH, “we already had medical students coming for decades. The people who developed this program back in the 1960s were mostly Loma Linda University graduates.”
Beginning with the class graduating in 2031, students training in Ohio will carry the official designation of Loma Linda University School of Medicine – Kettering Health Campus. The regional campus will host a small cohort of third‑ and fourth‑year students, intended to provide focused clinical experience and consistent mentorship.
Preparatory work for the transition has included coordinated planning between Kettering Health and Loma Linda University School of Medicine, including academic structure, oversight, and communications.
“The partnership with Kettering Health completes the joining of two institutions which align perfectly in mission and vision, ‘to live God’s love by promoting and restoring health,’ ” Dr. Schwartz said. “This expresses the hope of Seventh-day Adventist health care delivery and medical education, and we hope to grow medical students who live this mission and all that it entails.”
