With 196 students, Virginia Tech has one of the smallest medical schools in the U.S. By 2028, the Blacksburg, Va.-based university plans to increase enrollment to 400, Cardinal News reported Aug. 29.
The Carilion School of Medicine receives nearly 7,000 applications each year, but it can accept only about 50 students, according to the report. The school is currently in a 151,000-square-foot building that also houses the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
To expand the medical school, Virginia Tech posted a capital budget request to build a 100,000-square-foot building on a lot owned by Carilion Clinic, a health system based in Roanoke, Va., that partners with Virginia Tech.
"When you look at the physician workforce issues that are occurring around the country and in Virginia, and the fact that of over 600 students who are from Virginia who get into medical school, less than half of them stay … so why would we not grow?" Lee Learman, MD, PhD, dean of the school, told the Cardinal News.
The capital budget request puts the projected cost at $183.7 million. The tentative opening date is July 2028.