July 28th, 2011

The president of Thomas Jefferson University, Robert L. Barchi, said Wednesday he will step down at the end of his current term in June 2012.

An excerpt from the Philadelphia Inquirer reads:

Barchi, 64, will take a yearlong sabbatical, then become a full-time member of the Jefferson faculty.

The university, which focuses on health care, includes schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, population health, and health professions such as occupational and physical therapy. It has about 3,500 students, 1,000 of whom are in the medical school.

The university is separate from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and health system, but the school administers the clinical practice plan of 650 physicians. Barchi said those doctors account for 75 to 80 percent of the hospital’s activity.

Barchi, a neurologist who previously was provost of the University of Pennsylvania, said being a university president requires a high energy level that’s hard to sustain. “I’m getting tired,” he said. But not so tired that he wants to retire.

Read more here.