An outside organization, the Charlotte Medical Education Expansion Committee, has released the results of a feasibility study for a medical school in the Queen City. The group’s consulting agency Tripp Umbach concluded Charlotte needs a four-year medical school to meet the needs of the region.
However, Charlotte has a medical school – the UNC School of Medicine. In 2008, the UNC Board of Governors, with the support of UNC Charlotte, Carolinas HealthCare System and others, authorized the creation of regional campuses of the UNC School of Medicine in Charlotte and Asheville. These campuses serve third- and fourth-year students; they opened in 2009 and were accredited in 2010.
“Some Charlotteans have recently said again that Charlotte needs an independent medical school of its own. We strongly believe that the current UNC School of Medicine in Charlotte is the best and most cost-effective way forward. Whatever steps are taken in medical education in Charlotte in the future should build upon this strong foundation,” wrote Chancellor Carol L. Folt; Chancellor Philip L. Dubois, Dean William Roper, UNC School of Medicine; and CEO Michael Tarwater, Carolinas HealthCare System; in a statement.
North Carolina currently has medical schools at Campbell University, Duke University, East Carolina University, UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University. The school at Campbell opened in 2013 to train osteopathic doctors who have the same privilege as medical doctors but generally put more emphasis on holistic care and the musculoskeletal system, according to a recent article in the Charlotte Observer.
Each year, 24 third-year and 24 fourth-year students are enrolled full time in the UNC School of Medicine Charlotte campus. Last year, more than 300 third- and fourth-year students were on the Charlotte campus, including those who rotated in for varying periods of time.
But the Tripp Umbach report, as noted by the Charlotte Observer, wrote “It is clear that the limited medical school class size in Charlotte,…physician shortages, and current and future population demographics are all significantly impacting the physician workforce throughout North Carolina, especially Charlotte. That leaves the state “unable to support the current health care needs of residents.”
Folt, Dubois, Roper and Tarwater stated that “In the long term and dependent upon significant amounts of state funding, we can envision a time when UNC Charlotte would become increasingly involved in providing certain parts of the UNC School of Medicine medical education curriculum for first- and second-year medical students. That kind of investment by the State of North Carolina would certainly produce additional benefits for Charlotte as UNC Charlotte continues its evolution as a major research institution.”