Once established, the Hofstra University School of Medicine in partnership with North Shore-LIJ Health System will join the eight schools and colleges of Hofstra University. The Hofstra University School of Medicine will be the first allopathic (MD) medical school in Nassau County - and the first on Long Island in more than 35 years. Plans to create the new school were announced in October 2007. The agreement received approval from the boards of both Hofstra University and North Shore-LIJ Health System in the late winter of 2008, and was formally signed on March 26, 2008. Hofstra University School of Medicine in partnership with North Shore-LIJ Health System, which hopes to admit its first class in 2011, is currently pursuing preliminary accreditation with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and requisite New York State approval.