Universities in North Carolina are launching and expanding programs for physicians and nurses to address workforce shortages, CityView reported Jan. 11.
The focus comes amid a flurry of growth through competing hospital expansion projects. The state ranked seventh in a November report evaluating all 50 states and Washington, D.C. North Carolina received a C+ for overall healthcare and access — the highest grade given.
Programs in the southeastern region of the state aim to retain the clinicians they train, including Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine in Fayetteville, which will welcome its inaugural class in July, according to CityView.
“When you think about why this school exists, it was because there was such a dire need,” Hershey Bell, MD, founding dean of the Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine, told the publication. “We’re going to forever change the health care people get in this region.”
UNC Pembroke began its doctoral nursing program in 2025 and is slated to open North Carolina’s only optometry program at a public university in 2027, CityView reported. Fayetteville State University also plans to bolster its nursing program after a $2 million donation from Cape Fear Valley Health.
In the northwest region, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health plans to add general surgery, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology residency programs, with the first class beginning in 2027. Novant is also expanding its family medicine residency program with an urban family medicine track.
The universities have prioritized a community focus to encourage students to remain in the area, incorporating service learning projects and providing care through mobile health units.
Other organizations have focused on loan repayment and tuition programs to boost recruitment. At Methodist University, students in the first two inaugural classes will be eligible for up to $40,000 in tuition remission, according to a Jan. 8 news release.
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