The nation's first medical school dedicated entirely to training doctors for dual careers in research and patient care is being planned in San Diego.
The Scripps Research Institute and Scripps Health officials say the Scripps School of Medicine would be built on the Torrey Pines mesa and accept its first students in 2013. They want final accreditation by 2018.
Scripps must raise $150 million in startup money. The program would enroll up to 50 students each year in a five-year curriculum offering medical school courses as well as training in clinical trials and research.
Although many of the 130 medical schools in the United States offer similar physician-scientist training, they include only a few students at a time and they take as long as nine years to complete.
