LSU Health Sciences Center (New Orleans & Shreveport): How It Works
The LSU Health Sciences Center refers to Louisiana State University's public health-sciences campuses in New Orleans and Shreveport, two distinct academic medical hubs that train physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, public health professionals, and researchers while also running patient-care and research programs across Louisiana. LSU Health New Orleans is centered in New Orleans and operates statewide through six professional schools and multiple centers, while LSU Health Shreveport serves north Louisiana with a medical school, graduate programs, allied health training, and a broad faculty practice network.
What it is
LSU Health Sciences Center is not a single hospital; it is an academic health system and university-based medical training enterprise with campuses in New Orleans and Shreveport. The New Orleans campus describes itself as having teaching, research, and health-care functions statewide through six professional schools, eight centers of excellence, and affiliations with more than 100 hospitals and related institutions. LSU Health Shreveport similarly operates as a health sciences center with a medical school, graduate studies, allied health programs, hospital partnerships, and faculty clinics.
In practical terms, the system exists to educate health professionals, advance research, and connect academic expertise with patient care. The result is a classic American academic-medicine model: classroom instruction, clinical training, research labs, faculty practice plans, and affiliated hospitals all working together under one institutional umbrella.
How the two campuses differ
New Orleans campus is the larger, more diversified hub, with schools and centers that span medicine, dentistry, nursing, public health, and other health disciplines. It also has a long-standing biomedical footprint in New Orleans and a major connection to University Medical Center New Orleans, which opened on August 1, 2015 as a state-of-the-art academic medical center supporting education, research, and patient care.
Shreveport campus is the north Louisiana counterpart and is often described as a tighter clinical and training network anchored by its medical school and faculty practice plan. Public-facing institutional materials and professional listings describe roughly 1,500 students and postdoctoral trainees and a faculty practice plan of about 500 physicians across Shreveport/Bossier and Monroe, with hospital partnerships that include University Health, Willis-Knighton, Shriners Children's Hospital, and the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center.
| Campus | Main focus | Notable strengths | Typical footprint |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSU Health New Orleans | Health-professions education, research, and clinical training | Six schools, multiple centers of excellence, deep hospital affiliations | New Orleans and statewide affiliations |
| LSU Health Shreveport | Medical education, graduate training, and faculty practice | Medical school, allied health, resident training, regional hospital network | Shreveport/Bossier and Monroe region |
What they do
Medical education is the core mission at both campuses. LSU Health New Orleans reports more than 800 students in the MD program and more than 900 residents and fellows in nearly 70 graduate medical training programs, while also supporting two combined degree pathways, MD/MPH and MD/PhD. Those numbers matter because they show that the institution is not just a school but also a major postgraduate training engine for Louisiana's clinical workforce.
Research is the second major pillar. New Orleans reports seven basic-science departments, 16 clinical-science departments, and four research centers of excellence, which gives it a broad base for basic, translational, and clinical work. Shreveport's public materials emphasize its role as an academic medical center and research facility, underscoring that the campus is designed to generate new knowledge as well as train clinicians.
Patient care is built into the system through faculty practices, affiliated hospitals, clinics, and teaching sites. In New Orleans, the LSU Healthcare Services Division supports education and care delivery through hospitals and clinics such as Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center, while also backing clinical data and informatics initiatives. In Shreveport, the faculty practice plan extends clinical expertise across multiple regional hospitals and specialty settings.
Historical context
Institutional evolution helps explain why the campuses look the way they do today. A foundation record states that the New Orleans campus transitioned in 1999 into the LSU Health Sciences Center, consolidating six schools: Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Allied Health Professions, Public Health, and Graduate Studies. That shift reflects a broader trend in academic medicine, where previously separate professional schools are brought under a single health-sciences structure to coordinate education, research, and clinical service.
New Orleans also underwent a major post-Hurricane Katrina rebuild, including the rise of the medical district around the new University Medical Center. That development strengthened the campus's role as an anchor in the city's biomedical corridor and helped reset clinical education infrastructure for the long term. Shreveport's public identity has likewise evolved around its role as a regional referral and teaching center for north Louisiana.
Why it matters
Workforce training is one of the biggest public benefits of LSU Health Sciences Center. Louisiana has long relied on in-state academic medical institutions to train physicians and allied health professionals who are more likely to remain and practice in the state. The combination of medical school enrollment, residency slots, specialty training, and faculty clinics makes LSU Health one of the state's most important pipelines for health-care staffing.
Access to care is another major outcome. Academic health centers typically serve complex and underserved populations because they operate teaching hospitals, specialty clinics, and referral networks that many communities cannot support on their own. LSU Health's statewide affiliations and faculty practices expand that reach beyond the campuses themselves, making the system relevant well outside New Orleans and Shreveport city limits.
How it works day to day
Students enter degree programs at one of the schools, then move into labs, simulation centers, outpatient clinics, and affiliated hospitals for hands-on training. Residents and fellows spend years rotating through specialties, learning under faculty physicians while contributing to patient care. Researchers work alongside clinicians and trainees, which helps move discoveries from the lab into treatment settings faster than a stand-alone school could.
- Applicants enter one of the health-professions schools or graduate programs.
- They complete classroom and laboratory instruction.
- They train in clinics, hospitals, and specialty centers.
- Faculty supervise care, mentoring, and research.
- Graduates enter practice, fellowships, or academic careers.
Faculty practice plans are the operational bridge between academics and medicine. They allow professors and physicians to see patients, bill for care, mentor trainees, and maintain specialty expertise, while the institution uses that clinical activity to support education and research. That model is a defining feature of both campuses and one reason the system can simultaneously teach, treat, and investigate disease.
Key facts
- New Orleans has six professional schools and statewide teaching, research, and health-care functions.
- Shreveport is centered on medicine, graduate studies, allied health, and faculty practice.
- University Medical Center New Orleans opened on August 1, 2015 as a major academic medical anchor.
- LSU Health New Orleans reports more than 800 MD students and more than 900 residents and fellows.
- Shreveport public listings describe about 1,500 students and postdoctoral trainees and about 500 physicians in its faculty practice plan.
FAQ
Bottom line
LSU Health Sciences Center is best understood as Louisiana's university-based health workforce and research engine, split between New Orleans and Shreveport so it can serve different parts of the state more effectively. New Orleans is the larger, more expansive academic hub, while Shreveport is the north Louisiana medical and training center, and together they form one of the state's most important health-education systems.
Expert answers to Lsu Health Sciences Center New Orleans Shreveport How It Works queries
Is LSU Health Sciences Center one school?
No. It is a multi-campus academic health system with separate but related operations in New Orleans and Shreveport, each serving different regional needs and professional programs.
What is LSU Health New Orleans known for?
It is known for health-professions education, research, and clinical training across six professional schools, plus major affiliations that extend its reach statewide.
What is LSU Health Shreveport known for?
It is known for its medical school, graduate and allied health programs, faculty practice network, and hospital partnerships across north Louisiana.
Does LSU Health Sciences Center treat patients?
Yes. Through faculty clinics, affiliated hospitals, and teaching sites, the system is directly involved in patient care as well as education and research.
Why are there two campuses?
The two campuses let LSU serve both south Louisiana and north Louisiana with regional training pipelines, specialty care networks, and local research capacity.