April 17, 2026
On April 15, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Wilmington announced plans to pursue the state’s first new public medical school in 50 years in a presentation to the UNC Board of Governors (BOG) Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Program.
“What UNCW is proposing is not a traditional model,” UNC Chancellor Aswani Volety said during the meeting. “We are proposing a medical school that relies on collaborative training placements with federally qualified health centers, existing and future hospitals, clinics, and medical practices across the region, including rural areas.
Volety went on to explain that the proposal should complement the existing programs at other state institutions. The UNC BOG Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs will vote on the proposal May 21.
This addition would be the third new medical school in North Carolina in short order. The Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine will open in Fayetteville later this summer, and the Wake Forest University School of Medicine opened a second four-year campus in Charlotte last year. These schools join existing medical schools at UNC, East Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest’s main campus, and the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine.
The North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, Inc. (NCAFP) is a nonprofit professional association headquartered in Raleigh which represents over 4,300 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students across the state. It is the largest medical specialty association in North Carolina and is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, based in Leadwood, KS.
