Xavier University of Louisiana will open the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine next year, marking a new chapter in its nearly 100-year legacy of excellence.
The new medical school will be the fifth historically Black college and university medical school in the United States.
Dr. Leo Seoane, the founding dean of the medical school, said, “It’s an incredible honor to train the next generation of Black and Brown doctors.”
Seoane’s journey to this role is one of resilience and sacrifice. His family fled Cuba when he was three months old, escaping the communist regime.
“My mom went to jail, my dad went to jail,” he said. “My parents suffered brutally under that regime.”
His parents arrived in the United States in 1969 as part of the Freedom Flights, which brought over 150,000 Cubans to America.
“They always told us that we came to America for you. We could continue to suffer through this, but we didn’t want our kids to grow up in a country with no opportunity, in a country without liberty and without freedom,” Seoane said.
The family settled in Mid-City, New Orleans, near Banks Street and Norman C. Francis Parkway, which was home to the Cuban community in the early 1970s.
Seoane, one of six boys, recalled, “My dad worked as a garbage man and worked two jobs as a janitor and garbage man to provide for our family.”
The family eventually moved to Kenner, and Seoane attended public school before pursuing higher education at Loyola University, LSU Medical School, and completing his residency in Birmingham.
He has spent 25 years at Ochsner Health, focusing on medical education. “My whole career really has been about medical education,” he said.
Seoane helped launch a program between Ochsner and the University of Queensland, which he said “has been very successful. We put about 1,200 doctors in the United States.”
With the nation facing a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians over the next five years, the new medical school aims to address this critical need.
“The college of medicine allows us to train more physicians to care for our communities,” Seoane said.
He emphasized the importance of increasing the number of doctors in underserved areas.
“It’s very clear when you have more doctors in a community, its residents live longer,” Seoane said.
The 72,000-square-foot medical school will be located near the historic Charity Hospital in New Orleans.
With a focus on training Black and Brown doctors, the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine hopes to improve health outcomes in a city that consistently ranks high for chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Reflecting on his role and the significance of the moment, Seoane said, “It keeps me humble. I know where I come from, and I know I represent a community that’s larger than me.”
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