Campbell med school among best in country according to latest U.S. News rankings

The Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine (CUSOM) at Campbell University ranks among the best in the nation for "Medical Schools With the Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas," according to U.S. News rankings of top medical schools, released April 7.

Campbell for 2026 was ranked 11th, with 15 percent of graduates practicing in rural areas, among "unranked" schools, according to tier methodology applied by U.S. News.

Serving rural communities in North Carolina with the goal of keeping physicians in those communities is a primary goal of Campbell, which boasts the first and only osteopathic medical school in North Carolina.

Campbell also ranks 15th for "Most Graduates Practicing in Primary Care (38.4 percent)" and is 19th for "Most Graduates Practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas," with 59 percent practicing in medically underserved areas.

"These rankings affirm what has always been central to our mission at CUSOM - educating physicians who are committed to serving rural, underserved and medically vulnerable communities," says CUSOM Dean Dr. David Tolentino. "As a primary care physician myself, I am especially proud our graduates are entering primary care at such high rates and choosing to practice where they are needed most. This is exactly the impact we set out to make for the people of North Carolina and beyond."

Schools were assessed on their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence, U.S. Newssays. U.S. News published the aforementioned three rankings that focus on medical school characteristics and where doctors practice, working with the Robert Graham Center, a division of the American Academy of Family Physicians(AAFP), as the data provider to measure how medical schools are performing on key health care issues they and their graduates face. Each ranking is close to comprehensive and assigned independently of whether schools reported data directly to U.S. News, its website says.

The Campbell med school in March celebrated Match Day, where students - part of a graduating class of 151 - open envelopes revealing the site where they'll serve their residencies.

The new physicians will serve in 27 states, including 54 in North Carolina, with 28 percent entering specialties of need; for example, Pediatrics and Family Medicine. Sixty-two percent of the class will practice in the Southeast. Sixty percent of the graduating class will specialize in Primary Care, including 41 percent in Pediatrics and 34 percent in Family Medicine. Eighty percent will serve targeted specialties of need, such as Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine and OB/GYN.

According to March 2024 projections published by the Association of American Medical Colleges(AAMC), the U.S. will face a total physician shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, U.S. Newssays. The AAMC compared the projected supply and demand for primary care physicians and predicted a shortage of between 20,200 and 40,400 of these specific doctors by 2036.

U.S. News ranked its medical schoolsaccording to a four-tier system in which overall scores were calculated based on percentile performance compared to all rated schools. During fall 2025 and early 2026, U.S. Newssurveyed 203 medical and osteopathic schools - hereon referred to as "medical schools" - that were fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or the American Osteopathic Association as of early 2026.

The U.S. Newswebsite says about 20 percent of the top 100 medical schools in both research and primary carein the 2022-23 U.S. News Best Medical Schools rankings declined to participate in the statistical survey for the 2025 rankingsor submitted a survey that lacked key data, U.S. Newssays.

"These schools are thus labeled 'unranked' in the 2025 rankings, along with a small number of other med schools that did not respond to the survey or did not report key data and were outside the top 100."

See the complete list of rankings here.

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