The University of North Carolina Wilmington received a green light this week from the UNC System Board of Governors to proceed with the steps necessary to seek accreditation for a new four-year medical school that would also offer a three-year accelerated program for primary-care doctors and specialties in high demand.
It has been more than 50 years since North Carolina launched a public medical school, and supporters say the southeastern region of the state faces a significant shortage of physicians.
Board member Art Pope, a former state budget director, said while he would support the initial resolution, the medical school proposal would need to be thoroughly vetted.
“Even with major seed money, startup money, capital money, coming from non-state funds, [this] will have an operating impact on our budget in future years, which we’ll consider through the normal course,” said Pope.
Board member Swadesh Chatterjee joined Pope in supporting the concept of the new school, but asked for more information on the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) planning study and where the funding would come from. LCME accreditation is required before students may be recruited or enrolled in a Doctor of Medicine program.
UNC Wilmington Chancellor Aswani Volety said while he was not prepared to offer a dollar figure for the preliminary planning stage, the cost would be covered through philanthropic support.
Volety said that he is committed to raising more than $100 million towards the initiative.
In a show of support, UNC System President Peter Hans assured the board that he has been involved in the discussions for more than a year.
“I have verified the very, very, very, very strong possibility of significant private support for this,” Hans told the board. “This is not taken on a wish.”
UNC-Wilmington seeks approval for four-year medical school
At an April meeting, Volety predicted it would take seven to eight years before the first doctors would graduate, but he was hopeful a three-year accelerated track would be attractive to students.
More than 30 medical schools around the country offer accelerated programs, including Duke and UNC Chapel Hill.
With the rise of AI, a move toward faster learning
Hans said this is part of a broader strategy.
In his remarks to the full board Thursday, Hans said the system continues to explore more three-year accelerated degree offerings.
“North Carolina needs more health professionals, more engineers, and more business professionals with skills in data analysis,” said Hans in his prepared remarks. “If three-year degrees show promise to address those shortages for our state, we have an obligation to explore them.”
UNC System President Peter Hans (Photo: PBS NC/UNC Board of Governors video)Reducing some undergraduate programs to 90 credit hours to reach graduation could save students up to 25% of the cost of earning a college degree.
Hans said while a traditional four-year college experience can be transformative, exploring new and faster pathways toward graduation may be “a prudent step” in an era of potentially large disruption driven by artificial intelligence.
“It’s reasonable to expect that a significant number of people will need to seek new fields, new careers, and new skills to adapt to a shifting economic landscape,” said Hans. “I believe the riskiest course for the university is to just hope it all magically goes away.”
The UNC System has received about two dozen campus proposals for three-year degree options. It will require a vote by the full board of governors to decide if any of those proposals moves forward.
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