Marko Georgiev/ Staff photographer

The former Hoffmann-La Roche site in Clifton and Nutley.

The state Board of Medical Examiners has approved the opening of a new medical school at the former Hoffmann-LaRoche site in Clifton and Nutley.

The conditional approval is the first of two application processes for the venture between Hackensack University Medical Centers parent company and Seton Hall University, which is planning to open a four-year, private medical school in 2017.

First we have to be licensed through the state, said Robert C. Garrett, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack University Health Network. Now were through. It was a big hurdle.

The next move is to get approval from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, a branch of the American Medical Association, which takes a look at their dean, curriculum and facilities. That process is expected to take 12 to 15 months.

Its a tight timetable, but we hope to welcome the first class in the fall of 2017, Garrett said.

The new school, as yet unnamed would be the first private medical school to open in New Jersey in 50 years.

The school is expected to have 125 to 150 students in each class when it matures, an effort that is expected to ease the shortage of physicians in New Jersey. By 2020, the nation will need 50,000 more physicians, experts say.

Architects are working to redesign two buildings the medical school will take over at the 116-acre campus.

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Medical school plan for former Roche site advances