Medical Schools in Virginia: How to Get In (2024)
/Which are the best medical schools in Virginia? Discover the Virginia medical school rankings, plus strategies to get into your top-choice programs
There are six medical schools in virginia
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: List of medical schools in Virginia: 2023 rankings and admissions statistics
Part 3: Virginia medical school profiles
Part 4: Virginia medical school admissions strategies
Appendix A: Virginia medical schools by degree type
Appendix B: Virginia medical schools by institution type
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Part 1: Introduction
Virginia is a diverse state with a rich history, a robust political presence (due to its proximity to Washington, D.C.), and range of both urban and outdoors activities. The state is also well-known for its numerous medical schools, located in a wide range of cities from Charlottesville to Roanoke. While a medical student in Virginia, you may choose to explore larger cities such as Richmond and Norfolk, or opt to hike the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Whether you hope to work in a large academic hospital system like the University of Virginia or to immerse yourself in the osteopathic principles as a student at the Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine or the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, it’s likely you can identify a Virginia medical school that aligns with your professional goals.
Our goals for this guide are to provide you with an overview of the statistics and strengths of each Virginia medical school and to highlight unique features of each institution’s clinical curriculum, rotation sites, and extracurricular activities. This information will help you prepare an informed application aimed towards receiving an acceptance offer from your top-choice Virginia medical school.
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Part 2: List of medical schools in Virginia: 2023 rankings and admissions statistics
Below you will find statistics on Virginia medical schools’ rankings, locations, average GPAs, average MCAT scores, and other statistics so you can compare the schools side-by-side. While compiling this information, we observed the following:
Four allopathic medical schools and two osteopathic medical schools are located in Virginia.
Several Virginia medical schools admit high percentages of in-state Virginia residents.
Five Virginia medical schools appear in the 2023 U.S. News Best Medical Schools (Research) ranking, with one in the top 50.
Ranking numbers in parentheses show each Virginia medical school’s national ranking, whereas numbers outside parentheses reflect each school’s relative rank. Relative rankings helps us answer the question, “Which are the ‘best’ medicals school in Virginia?”
(Note: We strongly recommend that you sign up for MSAR for the most up-to-date information on MD programs and that you sign up for Choose DO for DO program data.)
| Virginia Medical Schools | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Virginia School of Medicine* | $61,114 OOS |
7.9% OOS |
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| Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine* | $60,981 OOS |
6.9% OOS |
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| Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine* | $56,082 OOS |
4.3% OOS |
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| Eastern Virginia Medical School* | $61,309 OOS |
5.8% OOS |
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| Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine–Virginia Campus | $46,900 OOS |
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| Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine | $50,985 OOS |
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Part 3: Virginia medical school profiles
Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS)
EVMS recently reformed their curriculum, now known as the CareForward Curriculum. The purpose of the curriculum is to provide students with integrated learning opportunities. Students not only learn foundational lessons in the basic and clinical sciences, they also work on their patient-facing skills from Day 1 with standardized patients at the Sentara Center for Simulation and Immersive Learning.
Additionally, students participate in various community-engaged learning initiatives. For example, the Nutrition and Exercise initiative empowers students to learn about strategies to mitigate diabetes and obesity, which are prevalent in the local Norfolk community. Furthermore, EVMS students will have opportunities to participate in local and global health opportunities, such as studying rural area medicine or participating in maternal-child health training in Belize.
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into Eastern Virginia Medical School: Requirements and Strategies)
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia Campus (VCOM)
VCOM seeks to attract students from rural areas who aim to become physicians that give back to these communities; in fact, 48% of VCOM students are from regions with populations under 30,000. Upon graduation, 66% of VCOM students ultimately practice in medically underserved counties.
VCOM students will pursue two years of preclinical education followed by two years of clinical rotations. They will have the opportunity to enhance their care skills by participating in medical outreach initiatives in the Appalachian region, such as the Preventive Medicine Community Outreach program, community health and wellness programming, and free primary care clinics. VCOM is also affiliated with Virginia Tech; thus, these medical students have access to Virginia Tech’s well-renowned laboratories and research opportunities.
Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM)
LUCOM is a faith-based, osteopathic medical school that integrates clinical education with Christian faith. Students will first participate in OMS-I and OMS-II, in which they learn foundational basic science and clinical concepts in system-organized courses. Next, in OMS-III and OMS-IV, students will rotate through core clinical rotations and later have the opportunity to select five electives. The curriculum integrates several team-based learning activities and lab-based opportunities throughout in an effort to connect with all types of learners and to provide students with the opportunity to engage with course material from multiple vantage points.
Students will have the opportunity to rotate not only at clinical sites throughout Virginia, but also in Illinois, Texas, and Mississippi. One of the unique goals of the institution is to instill various Christian values into LUCOM students while pursuing their medical educations.
University of Virginia (UVA) Medical School
The UVA Medical School boasts a unique curriculum that differs from the traditional two-year preclinical and two-year clinical programming seen at many medical schools. Instead, UVA students pursue a system-based learning experience where they progress through three phases of learning. Phase 1 integrates basic sciences such as microbiology with systems-based courses such as the gastrointestinal system. Phase 2 involves students’ clinical rotations at two campus locations, Charlottesville and Inova. Phase 3 empowers students to pursued advanced electives and self-directed rotations where they have the flexibility to focus their clinical education on their identified specialty of interest.
UVA also offers various research opportunities, including formal summer and one-year research experiences and the HHMI Medical Research Fellows Program. Additionally, UVA students can pursue extracurricular activities such as volunteering at the Blue Ridge Poison Center, exploring biomedical ethics, or providing international care via global health programming.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine
VCU students will progress through four phases of curriculum in order to obtain the MD degree. M1, or the Scientific Foundations of Medicine, serves as the framework for first-year medical students who will explore basic sciences and organ systems. The second phase, M2, is a multidisciplinary integrated curriculum where students will explore the various diseases and treatment considerations by organ system. Next, students will progress to M3; during this phase, they will pursue the core clinical clerkships. Finally, in M4, students will select 11 of the 232 four-week electives to complete their education.
VCU places a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion throughout its curriculum. Moreover, for individuals who are interested in a longitudinal research experience, the Year-Out Program for Biomedical Research supports students who take designated time to pursue research and to obtain a master’s degree.
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM)
VTCSOM organizes its curriculum into four “Value Domains,” which include basic science, clinical science, research, and health systems science and interprofessional practice. Students will pursue a traditional two-year preclinical curriculum followed by two years on clinical rotations. Integrated throughout this education is an emphasis on scholarly activity; students are expected to engage in an individual research project during their four years of medical school with the goal of completing a manuscript. Moreover, lessons in population health, value-based care, informatics, and ethics are integrated throughout the curriculum as part of the health systems science and interprofessional practice Value Domain.
VTCSOM also encourages its medical students to actively support the Roanoke community; community outreach programs, such as VTCSOM Engage and the Medical Reserve Corps, allow students to interface with the local environment and improve the overall health of their community.
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Part 4: Virginia medical school admissions strategies
Strategy 1: Utilize a data-driven approach when creating your Virginia medical schools list.
As demonstrated by the data above, Virginia medical schools possess a wide variety of average GPAs and MCAT scores. Therefore, it is crucial to take these statistics into account when putting together your schools list by strategically selecting programs that align with your own grades and test scores.
For example, with a 3.5 GPA and 512 MCAT, Virginia Tech and Liberty University would likely make excellent target schools for you, whereas getting into the University of Virginia would be very challenging. These chances can be further maximized if you are an in-state Virginia resident.
(Suggested reading: Picking Your State of Residency for Medical School)
Strategy 2: Take note of what makes each Virginia medical school unique and choose schools that align with your own strengths and prior experiences.
As outlined above, there are many different kinds of medical schools in Virginia, from internationally recognized clinical centers like the University of Virginia to institutions with more specific focuses, such as primary care and rural health (Edward Via) or the integration of faith and medicine (Liberty). In addition, many of the schools have varied curricular structures. Therefore, it’s important to reflect on what type of learner you are and what kind of environment you’re looking for in order to select the Virginia medical school that best fits your own strengths and interests.
This information will allow you to craft an application that highlights how your specific career aspirations mesh with the school of your choice. Take time to envision your future clinical career and determine which Virginia school will enable you to pursue this journey.
Strategy 3: Arrange your time around your secondary essays
It takes enormous dedication to complete the entire medical school application process and for medical schools in Virginia, this is no different. Once you’ve gotten to the secondaries part of the process, you’re in the homestretch. But if you’re like most med school hopefuls, you’re applying to 15-20 (or more) schools, which means a lot of essays and a lot of time writing them.
To complete your essays on time and with impeccable quality, it’s imperative that you arrange your schedule to suit the amount of work. Each school requires a different number of secondary essays and different essay lengths. Some want three 500-word essays, some want 10 essays of only 300 characters. Others don’t require any essays at all.
Think about how you want to approach this using your personal working style. You may want to tackle schools with longer essays first or schools with many prompts first. It’s ultimately up to you, but having a plan in place will save you time, energy, and unnecessary stress.
Suggested reading: (Medical School Secondary Essay Prompts)
Strategy 4: Further communicate your fit through interviews
If you’re invited to interview at a medical school in Virginia, congratulations! You’ve reached the final barrier to your journey to a career in medicine.
The last thing you want to do is to appear less than knowledgeable at this stage. All of your hard work is about to pay off, so make sure you prepare by thinking how you would respond to common interview questions.
Perhaps you’re certain of your answer to a question such as, “Why do you want to pursue medicine?” but what if you were caught off guard by “Why does ‘success’ look like to you?” or “Why would you be a good doctor?” There are plenty of canned responses to these questions you could give on the spot, but adcoms have heard them all before. How can you make your response stand out and give your interviewer a clear impression that you know what you’re doing and are committed to medicine?
One surefire way to achieve this is by working out answers that target certain aspects of the school’s program or mission in your answer. This communicates to your interviewer that you’re certain about this career path and even more certain about their school. Preparing beforehand drastically reduces your chances of stumbling over a question, thereby increasing the likelihood your application will be sent to the acceptance pile.
Final thoughts
There are several unique medical schools in Virginia. When selecting which to apply to, carefully consider the specific qualities and offerings of each institution. Then, use this knowledge to construct school-specific application essays and to effectively prepare for your medical school interviews in order to maximize your likelihood of acceptance to your first-choice Virginia medical school.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
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Appendix A: Virginia medical schools by degree type
Allopathic medical schools in Virginia (MD)
Eastern Virginia Medical School
University of Virginia Medical School
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Osteopathic medical schools in Virginia (DO)
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia Campus
Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Appendix B: Virginia medical schools by institution type
Public medical schools in Virginia
Eastern Virginia Medical School
University of Virginia Medical School
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Private medical schools in Virginia
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia Campus
Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine
