From health systems to community hospitals, UNC medical students can access six sites across North Carolina to learn more about medicine through hands on, community based care.
It’s where learning and theory become reality. As Aaron Williams faced one of the biggest steps in his medical school training, he was ready to apply textbook knowledge to treat patients in a medical setting.
“Before I got accepted into UNC, I did my research and I knew that during third year, there were six different campuses being offered for rotations,” said Aaron Williams, UNC SOM Class of 2027. “I was excited about this because I researched the campuses and before I got accepted into UNC, I knew I wanted to go to the Charlotte campus for rotations because I read up on its emphasis on community medicine – specifically, the mobile clinics and community events offering to provide free health care.”
As medical students like Aaron begin clinical rotations, they learn to balance medical knowledge, professional responsibility, and patient care in the pivotal stage of medical education known as the Application Phase.
During this time students gain direct experience in patient care under the supervision of experienced physicians and health care professionals. They complete core clinical clerkships in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery.
The training spans communities across North Carolina, equipping students with the skills and experience needed to practice medicine in diverse settings. From the mountains to the coast, each campus offers unique learning opportunities shaped by its location and patient population.
UNC SOM students start to learn about these different locations in the spring of their first year then decide which learning environment will best support their goals and well-being as they continue their training.
“We assign about half of the class to do Application Phase at one of the non-Chapel Hill sites: Wilmington, Charlotte, Asheville, Raleigh, Greensboro. The other half will stay in Chapel Hill,” explains Mary Hauser, Senior Director of Curricular Affairs at the UNC School of Medicine. “We take a careful look at ensuring that the curricular experience is comparable across all sites. We also look at the different flavors of the campuses that students experience with the unique patient populations, as well as the unique relationships that they form with the care teams with whom they work with in those sites.”
Students choose sites for a variety of reasons, including proximity to family, exposure to diverse patient populations, or the opportunity to experience a new lifestyle. Regardless of location, all students meet the same learning objectives and prepare for the same assessments as they continue pursuing their medical careers.
Throughout his process, Aaron made sure to focus on which campus would provide the best opportunities for his focus on community medicine. “I also considered the location and asked myself if I would be happy there,” he explained. “I was just true to myself when I ranked the sites. I made my list. After that, I just trusted the process, and it all worked out.”
Preparing Future Physicians Across North Carolina
Asheville Campus Site
The UNC School of Medicine Asheville campus opened in July 2009 with the support of UNC School of Medicine, Mission Health, and Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). Since then, the Asheville campus has grown to 35 Application Phase students per year. The MAHEC serves North Carolina’s 16 westernmost counties. With more than 1,000 employees, MAHEC is focused on training the next generation with excellence in clinical care, health professions education, and innovative practices.
“I just wanted to get a hands-on experience in Asheville because it is a smaller campus. You get a lot of that,” said Jordyn Cowan, UNC SOM Class of 2027. “I’m able to work with my preceptors and get to know them on a closer level especially with the longitudinal curriculum.”
Set in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville offers a welcoming environment for medical students. Outside the clinic, students enjoy outdoor recreation, mountain views, live music, pop‑up markets, and a vibrant food scene.
Charlotte Campus Site
Ranked among the best cities to live in by U.S. News and home to the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte offers a blend of academic training and community engagement. Community engagement is a key focus of the Charlotte campus, with opportunities for students to participate in culturally competent care and community‑based initiatives through Novant Health.
“Some of the opportunities that this campus has is the community bus where we go to local communities and offer healthcare to those underserved,” said Aaron Williams, UNC SOM Class of 2027. “That was a big plus for me. Additionally, an opportunity to get first-hand experience.”
The 40‑foot mobile clinic travels beyond Novant Health facilities to provide vaccines to uninsured children and mobile mammography services. Students also help deliver free screenings, including blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, triglycerides, and prediabetes education, supporting early detection of chronic disease.
Chapel Hill Campus Site
For some medical students, the full academic medical center experience makes Chapel Hill or Central Campus their top choice. As part of the Central Campus cross-regional site, students rotate through a wide range of clinical settings, including Rex, WakeMed, Piedmont Health, Central Regional Hospital, Cone Health, UNC Hospitals, the UNC Medical Group, UNC Health, and independent practices throughout the Triangle and Piedmont regions.
“The faculty at UNC Central is some of the best in the state — some of the best in the country,” said Jeevun Kansupada, UNC SOM Class of 2027. “It’s been an amazing experience being able to work with them in a learning environment because they are able to directly pass on that knowledge.”
Benefits of completing the Application Phase on the Central Campus include broad exposure to multiple high-quality sites for both inpatient and outpatient rotations, excellent faculty and resident educators, and a diverse patient population. Students have the opportunity to engage with patients from across the Triangle and beyond who travel to UNC Hospitals for their care, while living in a community that supports both professional growth and personal well-being. Beyond the clinical environment, Chapel Hill offers a vibrant college town atmosphere with easy access to outdoor spaces, local restaurants, arts, and community events. This community gives students the opportunity to recharge and maintain balance during training.
Greensboro Campus Site
From arts and entertainment to hands-on medical training, Greensboro offers students a dynamic learning environment. Training at Moses Cone Health exposes students to real life community compassionate physicians. The campus also features the Ultrasound at Union Square Campus, an award-winning training facility with a state-of-the-art simulation center, where students have hands-on scanning sessions. Students have access to general modalities, sports medicine, and specialty focused sessions.
“The quality of instruction and the ratio of faulty to staff is incredibly tight,” said Nate Adams, UNC SOM Class of 2027. “If you are showing interest in bringing your best at every rotation, which all of our medical students like to do, you’re going to get an immense amount of knowledge out of these rotations. You’re going to get a lot of good mentoring on top of that because you are working with these people for an extended amount of time. Our new curriculum has 8-week blocks, and you are often working with the same attendings for those entire 8-weeks.”
The collaborative environment fostered with training at the Greensboro site encourages students to become equipped at providing effective and empathetic care. Students also say it’s a rich and dynamic learning atmosphere that enhances the educational experience. Notably, Greensboro is filled with green spaces, dozens of parks, sports fields and recreation programs.
Raleigh Campus Site
The Raleigh campus stands out for its many accolades and its partnership with WakeMed, a leader in advanced health care services. Some of these services include Brain & Spine, Children’s Hospital, Comprehensive Heart Center, Advanced Pregnancy & Childbirth Services, Neonatal Intensive Care, Surgical Services, and many more.
“The patient population is very diverse in many different ways,” said Shernice Martin, UNC SOM 2027. “I get to see so many different ages, races, ethnicities, young professionals, and families. Being a physician in everyday practice is knowing and understanding community resources, systems-based practice, and the patient population you are caring for. WakeMed physicians do an amazing job at balancing those three things.”
Students value the opportunity to experience “bread and butter medicine,” which focuses on common conditions such as hypertension, heart failure, and diabetes. Mastering these foundational cases helps students develop strong diagnostic and treatment skills. With close proximity to Chapel Hill, Raleigh also offers an appealing quality of life and access to a growing, dynamic community.
Wilmington Campus Site
For students drawn to coastal living, Wilmington offers a unique backdrop for medical training. The UNC School of Medicine opened the Wilmington Campus in March 2016. Since then, the campus has grown steadily, now the home of 30 Application Phase students with typically 60-75% remaining for Individualization Phase. The Wilmington Program follows the same curricular structure as the Central Program, which is comprised of six core clerkship courses and one longitudinal Social and Health Systems course.
“All the residents here are great. They really like teaching regardless of the specialty you’re in. They want to help you improve as a person and as a professional,” said Yasharth Singh, UNC SOM Class of 2027. “There are patients every day that I see who need an interpreter in clinic to help communicate. It’s very helpful to build relationships with these patients when you can speak their language. It’s a great place for people who want to get exposure to these underserved populations.”
From the rigorous academic curriculum to the diverse patient populations students encounter, the education received is both comprehensive and enriching in Wilmington. In addition to pursuing dreams in medicine, students can enjoy the vibrant riverwalk, beaches, and a mix of coastal sights.
Training Tomorrow’s Physicians
It’s these unique cultural experiences that mold and shape students into deeper connections with faculty, staff, and patients throughout the state. Exposure to diverse communities broadens clinical knowledge and prepares students to address health challenges influenced by cultural practices and socioeconomic factors.
“We’ve really aimed for comparability across our campuses and courses,” Hauser said. “By streamlining structure, assessments, and scheduling, students can spend less time navigating logistics and more time focusing on patient care.”
The Application Phase represents a statewide collaborative effort to bring together students, residents, faculty, interprofessional teams, and administrators to create a rich, supportive clinical learning environment. Beyond clinical training, this phase plays a critical role in building North Carolina’s future physician workforce. By embedding students in communities across the state, UNC School of Medicine creates pathways for students to form lasting ties to the places where they train. These experiences not only support students interested in practicing in North Carolina but also encourage broader awareness of the impact physicians can have in diverse and often underserved communities.
“We have some specific programs designed for students who already know they want to pursue a career in NC through the Community Health Training Program,” said Hauser. “In addition to that, we hope that exposing students to the regional sites and campuses inspires additional students to see themselves practicing in these communities.”
For more information on the UNC School of Medicine’s Application Phase, click here.
Media Contact: Brittany Phillips, Communications Specialist, UNC Health | School of Medicine