Charlotte’s first 4-year med school opens in less than a year - Here’s what to expect

Charlotte's first four-year medical school will not open until summer, but Wake Forest University officials already are reviewing applications.

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine-Charlotte creates a second campus in midtown for the Winston-Salem-based school, with officials anticipating accepting 48 students for the class of 2029.

"A medical school campus is a wonderful area for people to be around and is an attractive environment for businesses, particularly those in biotech fields," said Dr. Roy Strowd, vice dean for undergraduate medical education.

The new campus will be located on 20-acres at the corner of South McDowell and Baxter streets.

That's in The Pearl District, a $1.5 billion project with retail, offices, hotels, apartments and academic spaces after construction is complete. Atrium Health and Wexford Science & Technology have partnered to build the district. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in January 2023.

Another 145 students will be in Winston-Salem for the class of 2029.

Prospective students apply to the school and not a specific campus. Wake Forest has had third- and fourth-year medical students studying in Charlotte for several years at Atrium Health locations, according to spokesman Joe McCloskey. But 2025 will be the first year that Wake Forest will have first-year medical students starting their education in Charlotte.

Over the next five years, Wake Forest is planning to gradually increase each incoming class of students at the Charlotte campus to around 100 students, McCloskey said. The school is planning to train close to 1,000 medical students across both campuses.

Students are committed to being a part of the communities through volunteer work and service projects, Strowd said.

"We expect that they learn about patient communities that they will see in their training and seek to develop them as leaders in their community and in the field of health care," Strowd added.

The five-year retention rate for Wake Forest medical graduates who remain in the state for their residency is 30%.

"This is important since students who stay for residency training often tend to stick around for fellowship and remain in their community to practice," Strowd said.

The Pearl's first phase is the medical school and a research tower. It will anchor the Howard R. Levine Center for Education. Levine's foundation provided a $25 million gift to name the 14-story building.

Wake Forest's School of Business, School for Professional Studies and Carolinas College of Health Science will also be housed in the same education building.