Larkin University is staking out 48 acres in South Miami-Dade for a new college of osteopathic medicine that it says will bring hundreds of jobs and more primary care doctors to the region. The Jacqueline Nicole Michel College of Osteopathic Medicine is planned for the Naranja area and would feature roughly 110,000 square feet of classroom space, simulation labs and clinical training areas. If all goes according to plan and accreditation, the university is eyeing a fall 2028 opening.
What Larkin Is Building
The campus is slated near Southwest 145th Avenue and 276th Street in Naranja and is being pitched as a spark for new development in South Miami-Dade. Rudi Ettrich, Larkin’s president and CEO, told the Miami Herald that the college will focus on prevention, primary care and training physicians who are likely to stay and serve nearby neighborhoods. The university says students would get early clinical exposure in training spaces that are set up for community-focused medicine rather than only hospital-based care.
Accreditation And Timeline
According to a press release from Larkin University, the school is in the middle of the accreditation process and will hold off on enrolling any students until it receives pre-accreditation. The college is framed as a joint effort with Larkin Health System, with plans to use existing hospitals and training programs as clinical sites for students. In the announcement, Dr. Rudi H. Ettrich called the step of seeking accreditation "a defining moment for Larkin University."
Why It Matters For Care
The project lands at a time when state and industry reports are warning that Florida is heading toward a serious shortage of doctors. A 2025 report from the Agency for Health Care Administration estimates the state could be short nearly 18,000 physicians by 2035 and notes that doctors are most likely to stay in Florida when they both attend medical school and complete residency training in the state. That retention pattern is a key argument for growing local medical education and residency capacity.
Osteopathic Growth In Florida
The new college would join a wave of osteopathic medical programs opening or planned across Florida through 2028. Florida Trend reports that the state is one of a small group with more than 10,000 practicing doctors of osteopathic medicine and that several colleges have launched in recent years to help bolster the supply.
Residency Pipeline And Jobs
Larkin points to its partnership with Larkin Health System, which already sponsors more than 40 ACGME accredited residency and fellowship programs, as a built in pipeline for graduates to move into training and eventually local jobs, according to the university release. University leaders and area planners argue that those clinical ties, along with articulation agreements with nearby colleges, can help keep new physicians in South Florida and drive job growth in hospitals, clinics and related support services.
Next Steps And Local Impact
Next steps include securing pre-accreditation, finishing site and construction designs, and obtaining state and county sign offs before any shovels hit the ground. "It's not just a healthcare investment. It's also an economic engine," Ettrich told the Miami Herald, as university officials detailed job creation and community health goals tied to the project. How quickly the plan turns into an operating campus will hinge on accreditation, permitting and the state’s ability to keep adding residency positions for future graduates.
Residents, local colleges and nearby health centers are likely to track accreditation and permitting updates over the coming year. For now, the plan marks a concrete promise to train more physicians in South Miami-Dade, with the longer term test being whether that promise translates into more doctors seeing patients in the same neighborhoods where they learned to practice.
