Charlotte’s Wake Forest medical school looks to build on momentum of first year
After opening last summer, the Charlotte campus of Wake Forest University School of Medicine is seeing momentum build, driven by a surge in applications following the historic launch.
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The city’s first four-year medical school welcomed 49 students in 2025 for its inaugural class of 2029.
This summer, the campus brought in 48 students for the next class. Dr. Michele Birch, associate dean for pre-clerkship education, said the inaugural class took the new group under their wing. “It’s kind of like they have older siblings to show them the way,” Birch said.
Headquartered in Winston-Salem, the medical school chose Charlotte for its second location, serving as the anchor for The Pearl, a $1.5 billion mixed-use district envisioned to include shops, apartments, medical offices, and medtech companies.
“I feel like The Pearl is really somewhere where you can come for creative collaboration, and I feel like that’s also demonstrated through the architecture,” said second-year student Lonnie Smith, of Moore, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City. “From walking outside, it draws your eye, and it’s like, ‘This is creative, this is new, this is something different.’ ”
Across both campuses, total enrollment stands at 628 students: 515 in Winston-Salem and 113 in Charlotte.
Wake Forest uses a single application process, meaning applicants do not apply to a specific campus. After acceptance, students may indicate a preference for Charlotte or Winston-Salem, though placement is not guaranteed.
Applicant interest is steadily increasing — a clear sign of strong demand for the expanding program, according to Birch.
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Charlotte med school enrollment is projected to expand steadily from 48 students this year to 64 next year and 80 in 2028, eventually capping at 96 students per class in 2029 and 2030 — for double this year’s total.
Plans for a new medical school began in 2019 when Atrium Health, Wake Forest Baptist Health and Wake Forest University announced a partnership to bring a campus to Charlotte.
Atrium Health is part of Advocate Health, the largest health system in the Charlotte region. Charlotte students will complete clinical rotations at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center and other regional Atrium Health facilities.
“I think one of the benefits of coming to one of the largest hospitals in the state, with no established medical school before we came here, is that there were a lot of academic faculty who were really excited about doing research with medical students in a way they weren’t able to before,” said second-year student Alisha Kamath of Raleigh.
In addition to their rigorous medical education, students remained actively involved across the Charlotte community.
“The students have stolen the show,” Birch said. “(They) have thrived academically, but also in their community outreach.
“They founded a free clinic, they’re out in the community … just about every nonprofit you’ll hear about, they start volunteering for.”
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This story was originally published August 24, 2026 at 5:15 AM.
