Charlotte med school on horizon

One of the largest U.S. cities without a medical school is inching closer to getting one.

After nine months of meetings, a task force of doctors and administrators from Carolinas Medical Center and UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine is about to recommend the creation of a regional medical school campus in Charlotte.

The group expects to finish its work by the end of October, and its recommendation could go to the UNC Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors before the end of the year, according to Dr. William Roper, dean of the UNC medical school.

If the expansion is approved, a request for funding could be sent to the legislature next year.

The goal is to expand UNC medical school's class size from 160 to 210 and to train the 50 extra students at Carolinas Medical Center during their third and fourth years, when the focus is on practical experience in the hospital.

If a new campus is approved, students would be added gradually, said Dr. James McDeavitt, senior vice president for education and research at CMC. The first students could arrive at CMC in 2011, and the full complement of 100 students in two classes could be in place by 2013.

McDeavitt declined to give specifics about the amount of money needed to make the Charlotte campus a reality. But he said CMC would need more faculty doctors and a new building for educational laboratories and support staff.

Both McDeavitt and Roper emphasized that the process is ongoing. Roper will turn over the task force's work to UNC system President Erskine Bowles, who reports to the board of governors, and UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser, who reports to the board of trustees.

In the meantime, Roper is consulting widely with interested parties to "make sure that people feel good about this."

"I have lots of bosses and lots of people looking over my shoulder," Roper said. "I don't want it to sound like we're done. It's a dynamic process."