SALISBURY, Md. - Delmarva could be home to Maryland's fourth medical school.

Peninsula Regional Medical Center has teamed up with Salisbury University and The University of Maryland Eastern Shore in hopes of starting the lower Eastern Shore's first medical school.

The President and CEOof PRMC, Dr. Peggy Naleppa says there's a significant shortage of physicians in the area and the new school would help fill the void. "We know that physicians will reside - 40 to 50 % will reside and stay in the community in which they are trained. 18 out of our 30 specialties require new physicians over the next several years, and we want to be sensitive to that for the region," she said.

Officials say plans are starting to take shape. The first step is to focus on a residency program that's expected to launch sometime in 2014. Then, they will move to make plans in building a medical school.

President of Salisbury University, Dr. Janet Dudley-Eshbach released this statement regarding the plans:

Peninsula Regional Medical Center; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; Salisbury University; and the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for an Eastern Shore of Maryland Medical and Health Science Education Partnership.

A feasibility study by an independent consulting firm recommends such a partnership to develop a regional medical and health science education and research campus. According to the consultants, the most feasible model to assure an adequate future physician workforce for the area is to establish a four-year medical school as a regional campus of UMB in close partnership with SU and UMES, leveraging the strengths of these two institutions. The goal is ultimately to attract doctors to this area.

SUs involvement is logical:

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PRMC Teams Up With Local Schools To Launch Medical School