Virginia is home to the most prestigious MD programs in the U.S, and also where you can find the best medical schools to pursue a medical degree.
We’ve provided a detailed list of the 6 best medical schools in Virginia, the quality of these schools, curriculum, rankings, hospital affiliations, acceptance rate, and admission requirements.
Why study in Virginia
1. Close to Washington, D.C
Virginia is approximately 15 miles away from the nation’s capital, Washington, where students of all educational backgrounds can find countless opportunities for students, from internships to important networking opportunities. There’s also the rich cultural heritage and fun nightlife. Our Virginia campus offers easy access, which is approximately 15 miles away.
2. Serene Environment
Medical schools in Virginia are located in a quiet, serene environment. There’s a unique atmosphere for students to engage in indoor and outdoor activities to study and focus on their studies while enjoying all the natural beauty of Virginia.
3. Rich American History
In Virginia, you can learn a lot about the rich American history. This includes many civil war battlefields, museums, Arlington National Cemetery, famous monuments and documents of the U. S, and many natural landscapes to explore like the Shenandoah National Park, the Appalachian Trail, Virginia Beach, and Luray Caverns.
International students can feel they are part of something bigger when they learn so much history about the deep American historical roots.
4. Low Unemployment Rate
The state of Virginia is one of the U.S states with the lowest employment rate. The unemployment rate in Virginia was 2.8% in 2019 until the COVID-19 pandemic which affected Virginia and caused the unemployment rate to rise 10.6%, compared to other states with a rate of 20% and above.
5. Quality Healthcare
In Virginia, you’ll find some of the best hospitals in the U.S ranked for at least one specialty. This includes the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, one of the best hospitals for cardiology, the University of Virginia Medical Center for nephrology, and Inova Fairfax gynecology.
International students can be sure of getting quality medical care treatment and services in Virginia if the need arises.
READ ALSO: University of Virginia Scholarships Opportunities 2022 for International Students
How to get accepted into Medical school in Virginia
Your academic standings e.g High school diploma must be excellent and you should be sure that your exam scores and GPA (total and science) meet and exceed the medical school’s minimum requirements.
Your clinical experience, volunteering activities, and extracurriculars. Beyond your grades and test scores, medical schools are interested to learn more about your personality, interests, character, and motivations.
Clinical experiences are one of the top requirements for getting accepted. Medical schools in Virginia are more interested in applicants who have previous clinical experience providing medical care or have actively engaged in patient care in underserved areas in Michigan.
You might as well get paid during your clinical activities or be unpaid. Unpaid experiences involve shadowing a physician or volunteering with a
medical organization. On the other hand, paid clinical exposure includes jobs like scribing. It can be as simple as listening and recording a doctor’s logic first-hand or as demanding as working in an emergency room monitoring vitals, cleaning and dressing wounds, taking various samples, and lots more.
If you want more exposure to emergency situations, working as an EMT is the right option. Though it doesn’t provide as much interaction compared to working within a hospital, it will help you to decide if you’re surely willing to study medicine.
If you don’t have any past clinical experience, you should be able to demonstrate a strong commitment to practice in Michigan through internships and volunteer activities, especially in areas where there’s a need for more doctors and physicians.
You should have completed lab internships, and/or taken up assistantships positions to collaborate with other researchers on their projects or even do research on your own project. This increases your chances of getting accepted Into medical schools in Virginia.
Quality volunteering experiences at a hospital or a free clinic is another one of the best ways to have an advantage over other applicants as it boosts your application and shows your commitment to helping people. Nurse assistant or nurse’s aide jobs are some examples of quality volunteering jobs for those who want to work directly with patients, at a hospital, or local clinic.
One of the common questions many medical schools ask applicants is why they want to be a doctor, and the usual response is the desire to help people. When asked to elaborate, you can provide examples from your past volunteering experiences to show the admissions committee that you are passionate about helping people, and your volunteer activities back up your statement.
Extracurricular activities provide medical schools with information about the real you. It tells the admissions committees l who you are, not just as a potential student or applicant, but as a person.
In summary, to get accepted into a medical school in Virginia, incoming students or applicants are expected to have:
- Good High school diploma
- Undergraduate degree in the field of Sciences (3-4 years)
- Good TOEFL language scores (for international students)
- Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and MCAT exam result (depends on the university individually)
- Extracurricular activities
- Letters of recommendation
6 Best Medical Schools in Virginia
- University of Virginia School of Medicine (Charlottesville, VA)
- Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (Richmond, VA)
- Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk, VA)
- Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (Roanoke, VA)
- Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Lynchburg, VA)
- Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (Blacksburg, VA)
1. University of Virginia School of Medicine (Charlottesville, VA)
The University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA SoM) is the graduate medical school of the University of Virginia founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and located adjacent to Academical Village in Charlottesville, Virginia. It is top on our list of best medical schools in Virginia and is the tenth oldest medical school in the United States.
UVA SoM grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees and is closely associated with both the Inova Health System and the University of Virginia Health System. U.S. News and World Report ranked UVA SoM #19 in the U.S in terms of primary care and #31st best medical school for research.
UVA SoM’s “Next Generation” curriculum reduces the first- and second-year education into 1.5 years to enable medical student doctors to begin their clinical rotations and get hands-on experience with patients before their fourth year. Accepted students can access the Carter Immunology Center, the UVA Cancer Center, and the Center for Brain Immunology & Gila.
Respected faculty members of the school of medicine faculty, include Nobel Prize laureates Barry Marshall, Ferid Murad, and Alfred G. Gilman. UVA SoM has a 10.7% acceptance rate. 4800 applications are received annually for only 156 spots. Accepted students had a mean MCAT average of 517.58 and a mean GPA of 3.84.
2. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (Richmond, VA)
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (Medical College of Virginia) is the largest and oldest operating medical school in Virginia. The School of Medicine is one of five schools within the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU and the VCU Medical Center. It is located on the Virginia Commonwealth University Campus in Richmond, Virginia,
VCU School of Medicine offers an M.D degree as well as various master’s, postdoctoral research, doctoral and interdisciplinary program, and residency training opportunities. The school’s 367,000-square-foot Critical Care Hospital, the Inova Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia, and the McGuire VA Medical Center are clinical training options for third- and fourth-year students at VCUSM. They may get to join in research at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park in Richmond.
U.S. News & World Report ranks the school #68 best medical schools for research and #49 in primary care, based on its commitment to research and primary care. Accepted get the opportunity to work with an active faculty, with members such as Dr. Georgia McIntosh, the 2020 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award winner, and Gonzalo Bearman, the editor-in-chief of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America’s journal Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology.
Respected alumni of VCU School of Medicine include “Patch” Adams, the physician portrayed on film by Robin Williams, virologist Jeffery Taubenberger, and Nobel laureate Baruj Benacerraf, and.
VCU School of Medicine’s acceptance rate is 4.5% as the school of medicine only accepts exceptional students. The average required GPA is 3.7 and the average MCAT is 512.
3. Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk, VA)
Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) is a public medical school founded in 1973 in Norfolk, Virginia. It is one of the best medical schools for research in Virginia.
EVMS campus includes the 212-bed Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, the only stand-alone children’s hospital in Virginia, and the regional pediatric referral care facility in the state. There’s also the 555-bed Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, which is the only tertiary level 1 trauma medical care facility in Virginia.
EVMS curriculum is focused on simulation/standardized patient education. Students at EVMS have access to the Jones Institute for Reproductive Center, the Sentara Center for Simulation and Immersive Learning, and the M. Foscue Brock Institute for Community and Global Health.
EVMS is committed to community engagement. As part of the school’s “Coats for Kids” initiative, EVMS students have collected and distributed coats for
underprivileged children living in Norfolk since 1987. Campus buildings become spooky every Halloween when EVMS students begin their “Haunted Hallway” event for local children.
EVMS’s notable achievements are in the areas of reproductive medicine, and research in pediatrics, diabetes, geriatrics, and cancer. It is the first American university to produce a viable fetus through in-vitro fertilization. EVMS is the first institution in the US to have produced a viable fetus through in vitro fertilization.
EVMS has high admission standards, having an acceptance rate of just 13%. Accepted students have an average MCAT average of 511.7 and a GPA of 3.54. Prestigious alumni include pediatric researcher Dr. Maria C. Gillam-Krakauer and astronaut Yvonne Cagle.
4. Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (Roanoke, VA)
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSM) is a public, medical school founded in 2007 in Roanoke, Virginia. In 2018, it officially became a part of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and is located at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). The med school was formed as a public-private partnership with the Carilion Clinic.
The Carilion School of Medicine operates a small class size and grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree to its graduates and is associated with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. VTCSM is ranked 81st in the U.S in terms of research. Third-year and fourth-year students receive a $1000 stipend for research supplies every year to carry out a total of 14 weeks of R&D throughout these years.
VTCSM has made remarkable breakthroughs in healthcare through its notable discoveries in cellulitis and brain development. Most of these achievements are part of the 27 faculty-led research teams. VTCSM’s students enter the faculty after their first year.
VTCSM has high admission standards, having an acceptance rate of just 8.1%. Accepted students into the class of 2024 had a mean MCAT average of 513 and a mean GPA of 3.6.
5. Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Lynchburg, VA)
Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) is a private graduate medical school founded in 2014 and located on the Liberty University campus in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is part of the 17 schools that make up Liberty University.
After the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, LUCOM is the second osteopathic medical school to open in Virginia. It has also established itself as the premier school for studying an M.D program in a Christian environment.
LUCOM’s rigorous curriculum focuses on first-class training. Third and fourth-year students get opportunities to perform daily rotations in partner clinics like Lynchburg’s Liberty Mountain Medical Group LLC primary care clinic.
In addition to its resources, LUCOM also With a consistent history of placing student-doctors into residency programs, LUCOM is an excellent choice for
those looking to study in a Christian environment.
LUCOM has a world-class faculty that is committed to humanitarian care and a Christian worldview. Members of the faculty include Assistant Dean Carl R. Hoegerl who served as an Osteopathic Health Policy fellow and the former interim Dean Joseph R. Johnson who served as a fellow in the American Osteopathic Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The school of medicine prides itself on a faculty dedicated to clinical research. as shown in their contribution to papers published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, The American Journal of Physiology, and The American Journal of Gastroenterology in recent years.
Admission into Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine is very competitive. The school has a 4.2% acceptance rate. An average GPA score of 3.0 and an MCAT score of 501 is expected from incoming students.
6. Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (Blacksburg, VA)
The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) is a private medical school founded in 2002 on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia (VCOM-Virginia. It is one of the best medical schools in Virginia.
VCOM accepts applicants from rural areas in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, and South Carolina. This is based on the school’s goal to increase the number of doctors in Appalachia.
VCOM-Virginia curriculum focuses on bioinformatics and primary care. The school is affiliated with the Center for Bioinformatics and Genetics and the Primary Care Research Network. There’s a 0.1:1 ratio of students to teachers, and a full-time faculty of 138 teachers. Campus locations include South Carolina (VCOM-Carolinas), Spartanburg, Auburn, Monroe, Louisiana (VCOM-Monroe), Alabama (VCOM-Auburn), and Bluefield University.
The faculty has a solid commitment to research and has contributed to various published journal articles such as Applied Neuropsychology: Child, Journal of Food Nutrition and Metabolism, and the Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association.
VCOM partners with free clinics in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, and South Carolina, to give students real-world training in primary care while also providing preventative medicine. VCOM-Virginia was awarded the 2020 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Insight for its commitment to underserved populations.
The VCOM-Virginia acceptance rate is only 8%. An MCAT score of 500, and a high GPA, among other qualities, are required to increase your chances of getting accepted.
Conclusion
That’s everything about the 5 best medical schools in Virginia.
There are various M.D programs, doctoral programs, interdisciplinary programs, and residency training opportunities, offered by these schools. Medical students get to start their clinical rotations before their fourth year at affiliated hospitals and medical centers.
FAQs on Best Medical Schools in Virginia
The University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA SoM) grants the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees and is closely associated with both the Inova Health System and the University of Virginia Health System.
There are six medical schools in Virginia.
The Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) in Virginia program requires 4 years to complete.
The cheapest medical school in Virginia for 2022 is the University of Virginia school of medicine. There’s a tuition cost of 43, 828 (in-state students), and 53,952 (out-state students)
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