Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University

The Brody School of Medicine

Type	Public Medical School
Established	1969
Dean	Paul R. G. Cunningham, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Academic staff	449
Students	469
Postgraduates	80
Doctoral students	389
Location	Greenville, North Carolina, United States
Campus	Urban
Website	http://www.ecu.edu/med/

The Brody School of Medicine (BSOM) is the medical school at East Carolina University, located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the fourth-oldest medical school in North Carolina, Brody School of Medicine was first appropriated funds from the General Assembly in 1974. Under the leadership of former Chancellor Leo Warren Jenkins the first class of 28 students enrolled in 1977. The schools primary mission is "to increase the supply of primary care physicians to serve the state, to enhance the access of minority and disadvantaged students in obtaining a medical education, and to improve health status of citizens in eastern North Carolina".

Under the leadership of Dean Paul R. Cunningham, today, Brody School of Medicine grants the M.D. and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degrees, as well as a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. The school has a student body of about 470 students and around 450 faculty members and researchers. BSOM organizes research through over a dozen research centers and institutes, receiving around US$30 million in externally funded grant and contract yearly. BSOM is ranked as a "top medical school" by U.S. News & World Report in primary care, rural medicine and family medicine.

History

In time, East Carolina University was authorized to establish a health affairs division as a foundation for a medical program, and then a one-year medical school whose participants completed their medical education at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Finally in 1974, the General Assembly of North Carolina appropriated the funds to establish a four-year medical school at East Carolina University.

The legislature set forth a threefold mission for the ECU School of Medicine: to increase the supply of primary care physicians to serve the state, to improve health status of citizens in eastern North Carolina, and to enhance the access of minority and disadvantaged students to a medical education.

Since 1977, when the first class of 28 students enrolled in the four-year School of Medicine, the institution has grown dramatically in its teaching, research and patient care roles. Today, it is partnered with Vidant Health and Vidant Medical Center. In 1999, it was renamed the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, in recognition of the continuous support of the Brody family, former owners of the Brody's retail chain.

East Carolina University is a pioneer in minimally invasive robotic surgery. On May 3, 2000 at East Carolina's Brody School of Medicine, Dr. Randolph Chitwood performed the first robotic heart valve surgery in North America. Using this technology, surgeons at the school have performed more operations on the heart's mitral valve than any other center in the world by far. Today the Brody School of Medicine is home to a state of the art integrated cardiovascular disease center, The East Carolina Heart Institute at ECU.^[1][2]

Campus

Brody School of Medicine has facilities on the campus of East Carolina University, which is situated in the western side of Greenville, adjacent to Vidant Medical Center.

The medical school facilities at East Carolina University sits in a complex on the health sciences campus of East Carolina's grounds and includes academic, administrative, research, and presentation facilities. BSOM is served by one library, the William E. Laupus Library. BSOM does not offer on-campus housing on the health sciences campus.

The main facility is the Brody Medical Sciences Building. The Biotechnology Building houses all of the laboratory equipment for the school. Also housed in this building is the Pediatric Outpatient Center. The East Carolina Heart Institute at ECU houses the outpatient center and primary teaching and research location for cardiovascular care. The Family Medicine Center houses the outpatient facility for the Department of Family Medicine. The facility is soon moving to a separate building that will triple the available space. The Health Sciences Building houses the Laupus Library, along with the College of Nursing and College of Allied Health Sciences. The Hardy Building houses the Department of Public Health and Moye Medical Center I houses the General Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care and ECU Gastroenterology. Warren Life Sciences Building houses the administrative and research offices.

Vidant Health (formerly University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina), is associated with the Brody School of Medicine by means of a long standing affiliation agreement with [Vidant Medical Center]] (formerly Pitt County Memorial Hospital), Vidant's 861-bed inpatient facility, acts as the medical school's teaching hospital and "primary teaching site". This facility is located adjacent to the Medical School. Vidant has other constituent elements that include the Bertie Memorial Hospital in Windsor, Chowan Hospital in Edenton, Duplin General Hospital in Kenansville, Heritage Hospital in Tarboro, The Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head and Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in Ahoskie. In total, Vidant, the largest private employer in eastern North Carolina, serves an area with a population of 1.3 million in 29 eastern counties.

Rankings

BSOM is ranked 10th in the nation for primary care, according to the 2011 edition of top medical schools by U.S. News & World Report. They also rank seventh in the rural medicine subcategory by the same magazine.^[3] However, in 2012, BSOM's rankings dropped to #31 in Primary Care by U.S. News & World Report, making it the first time in 4 years that the school was not ranked in the top 10. In 2014, BSOM was "unranked" for both primary care and research in the U.S. News & World Report medical school rankings.^[4] According to U.S. News, unranked status can be due to the school not "qualifying" or data issues.^[5]

In 2010, graduates were second in the nation for going to family medicine residency, by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).The AAFP ranked the school second in 2008 and eighth in 2007 for sending their graduates to family medicine residencies.^[6]

Residency and fellowship programs

The following are a list of programs sponsored by BSOM and Vidant Medical Center.

*Are non-ACGME programs

Community involvement

Greenville Community Shelter Clinic

The Greenville Community Shelter Clinic is a free medical clinic run by medical students. Primarily, the patients come from the Greenville Community Shelter. It first opened in 1988 and is housed in the former Agnes Fullilove School in West Greenville. The students have a general, women and pediatric clinic. Also, twice a year a dental van provides services.

James D. Bernstein Community Health Center

The James D. Bernstein Community Health Center is a $2.8 million, 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m²). facility where low-income, uninsured or medically underserved rural families can receive services tailored just for them with sliding-scale fees.

The program has enabled faculty and students from BSOM and College of Nursing, ECU Physicians Pharmacy Services, Medical Family Therapy, Health Psychology, and Social Work to work and learn side-by-side both in the center and in a partnership with Pitt Community College. It is located in north Greenville, beside the Pitt-Greenville Airport.

Telehealth network

The Telemedicine Center is a way for doctors in Greenville to communicate with patients throughout the east. There are currently 14 hospitals and clinics that is in the Telehealth network. Those places are: Bertie Hospital in Windsor, Caswell Center in Kinston, Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, Chowan Hospital in Edenton, Duplin General Hospital in Kenansville, Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf in Wilson, Goshen Medical Center in Faison, Governor Morehead School of the Blind in Raleigh, Healtheast Family Care in Avon, Heritage Hospital in Tarboro, Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head, Pungo District Hospital in Belhaven, Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in Ahoskie and Tillery Community Center in Tillery.

Notes

External links

• The Brody School of Medicine