The founding dean of NYU Long Island School of Medicine is set to retire.
Dr. Steven Shelov, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, became the founding dean of the school in 2017. His retirement is effective January 2, 2023.
After the merging of Winthrop University Hospital and NYU Langone, Shelov set out to create a new, independent medical school to train primary care physicians under the oversight of NYU and NYU Langone leadership. Additionally, he helped lead the Liaison Committee on Medical Education’s approval of NYU Long Island School of Medicine’s Provisional Accreditation Status, which is expected to be completed in 2023 with the LCME’s granting of full accreditation.
“We thank Dr. Shelov for his service to NYU Long Island School of Medicine, to medical education, and to the discipline of pediatrics,” Dr. Robert Grossman, dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine and CEO of NYU Langone Health, said in a statement. “He helped build the school from the ground up into the world-class beacon for primary care physician education it is today.”
Dr. Gladys Ayala, vice dean and professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Long Island School of Medicine, will step up as dean of the school, after Shelov’s retirement. Ayala joined NYU Long Island School of Medicine in 2018 as the senior associate dean for medical education, leading curriculum development and assessment for the new school. Before that, Ayala was the interim vice dean at New York Medical College’s School of Medicine in Valhalla. She received her doctorate in medicine from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1986.
Ayala has taught medical students principles of primary care, history, and clinical skills since 1994 and developed and taught a curriculum on cultural humility and awareness for senior medical students. She is passionate about the impact primary care doctors trained in cultural competency can have on the health and wellness of underserved communities. In her address at this year’s white coat ceremony, Ayala said: “As physicians we have the potential to make a difference in not only taking care of the ‘one,’ the patient, but of the community we serve.”
“Dr. Ayala was instrumental in creating the groundbreaking three-year, primary-care focused curriculum that differentiates NYU Long Island School of Medicine, and we have every confidence that she will continue her streak of exceptionalism as dean,” Grossman said.
