CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina is now the nation’s 9th-most populous state – and more people need more doctors.
One-third of the state’s physicians are expected to retire in the next four years, and the state is projected to need 1,885 more physicians by 2030.
The Connect NC bond package that voters will decide on March 15 includes $68 million to help provide the next generation of North Carolina doctors and save North Carolina lives. State officials stress that no tax increase will be necessary to pay off the bonds.
The bond dollars would be combined with $23 million in private donations to construct a new medical education building.
When Berryhill Hall opened almost 50 years ago, the University of North Carolina School of Medicine had 353 medical students. In 2014, the school trained 2,400 health providers and med students.
Officials expect the new building would allow them to increase class size nearly 30 percent.
Moreover, the nature of medical education has changed since Berryhill Hall’s lecture-style classrooms were dedicated in 1970, says Dean William L. Roper of the School of Medicine.
“It has become more active, more self-directed, more collaborative – and more driven by technology,” Roper said. “Carolina needs a medical education building that meets 21st century instructional needs.”1
Learn more about the medical school’s plans in the accompanying video:
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