Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine is opening its second medical school on the Florida Tech campus in Melbourne, the first one in Brevard County.

The state-of-the-art facility is where future osteopathic physicians will be trained.

For the past three years, more than three dozen BCOM students have done clinical work at local hospitals, and based on that success, they decided to bring a medical school to Florida.

Thomas Baez is a third-year medical student at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine.

He comes from a family of doctors, and he wants to serve in the Army as a general surgeon.

The hands on training he is receiving will help him accomplish his goal.

“They give me the opportunity to treat patients early on. We have simulated patients in the first two years of school, walk in a room, see the patient just like in real life,” Baez said.

Stats show if a student does their four-year medical work in a state, then residency training, odds are they will stay and get jobs locally.

“You are 78.8% likely to stay in that state, and in the state of Florida, in Brevard County, we need physicians, so that’s very exciting for Brevard County,” says Dr. Doris Newman, Burrell College Florida campus dean.

School starts in July 2024 with 100 student doctors.

BCOM’s other campus is in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and the first graduating class was in 2020.

Since then, more than 500 doctors have graduated and entered the medical field.