The North Carolina state budget, signed into law on July 11, allows the UNC School of Medicine to increase enrollment and train more health professionals and medical researchers to improve lives and health care across the Tar Heel state.
The North Carolina state budget was signed into law on July 11 and it provides the UNC School of Medicine with funding to increase its enrollment. Enrollment will increase incrementally from its current level of 190 per class to 230 per class.
“Increasing enrollment means the UNC School of Medicine can train more physicians and physician scientists to improve lives and health care across North Carolina,” said Executive Dean Cristen P. Page, MD, MPH. “We are so thankful to Governor Roy Cooper and the North Carolina General Assembly for their support, and we are ready to further enhance our ability to care for North Carolinians from the mountains to the coast.”
The $8 million in recurring funding will allow the School of Medicine to hire faculty and staff who will support the educational programs and experiences needed to train future physicians, and the School of Medicine will continue to focus on those practicing in primary care and in rural areas.
Service to North Carolina
The UNC School of Medicine trains more medical students than any other school in the state and many of the school’s graduates go on to practice in North Carolina’s rural and underserved areas. North Carolina’s rural areas have long experienced a shortage of physicians, and training more doctors will help fill that need.
The UNC School of Medicine aims to be the nation’s leading public school of medicine and is dedicated to serving North Carolina through research, education and training.
School of Medicine researchers are helping North Carolina through the COVID-19 pandemic through efforts including tracking Coronavirus variants and testing new vaccines.
Additionally, School of Medicine researchers work on a range of projects that improve health care around the state, including reducing cardiovascular risk, increasing access to behavioral health care for children in rural areas, identifying programs to improve rates of tobacco screening and cessation support, and helping older North Carolinians access nutritional benefits.