About the School

Learn more about Wake Forest University School of Medicine—where today’s discoveries are changing tomorrow’s practices.

Wake Forest University School of Medicine prepares the next generation of health care leaders through education, research and innovation. The School of Medicine is also one of the most selective medical training programs in the nation and encompasses multiple programs, including MD, PA, CRNA, DNP and biomedical graduate programs.

As the academic core of Atrium Health and an integral part of the academic learning health system, research and education are the means – not the end – to accomplishing the goal of improving health for all.

What does that look like? We actively and intentionally integrate research and education into patient care settings and feed knowledge gained from those settings back into the academic ecosystem — so we can improve health starting today, not just in a distant future.

As an organization with a culture of learning and innovation, we encourage everyone to explore questions aimed at improving how we do what we do.

Facts and Figures

PA Studies program No. 7 in U.S.
Nursing Anesthesia program No. 10 in U.S.
Ranked No. 47 in research by U.S. News & World Report
1,418 full-time faculty
100+ GME programs (includes ACGME- and non-ACGME-accredited)
16 institutes and research-based centers
1,900 students, residents and fellows
35+ student organizations

Education

Educating tomorrow’s health care leaders starts with our educational philosophy and comes to fruition through our teaching environment. As an integral part of our learning health system, our students are taught to balance science with compassion.

In our medical training programs, a patient-centered perspective is at the heart of the curriculum. With a focus on translation, our MS and PhD students’ studies are directed toward outcomes, improving care and new discoveries.

Two women wearing face masks stand in the hallway of a health clinic and look at a laptop screen
We are also committed to creating a culture of continuous learning, not only for our students, but also for health professionals at every stage of their career. We believe the best way to learn a new clinical procedure or method is through hands-on training.

Programs

Educating the future leaders of health care.

Residencies and Fellowships

With more than 100 accredited and non-accredited residencies and fellowships, Wake Forest University School of Medicine has the right fit for the next step in your medical career.

Research

The engine of our academic learning health system, research permeates everything we do with the goal of improving health for our patients and communities. Information flows two ways between bench and bedside via biomedical informatics, health care innovation, population health and precision medicine.

Our researchers continually work to discover the next treatment, improve protocols and methods and develop the tools needed to provide outstanding patient care.

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Healthy aging

Our bodies and our brains change significantly as we age, sometimes leading to disability and nearly always to mobility issues. Our memories and thinking skills change, too. Through our work at the Claude Pepper Older American Independence Center, the Center for Vaccines at the Extremes of Aging, the Roena B. Kulynych Center for Memory and Cognition Research, and more, we use a combination of clinical, statistical, and basic science approaches to:

Better understand the mechanisms of these changes
Identify the factors that predict them, and
Test new strategies to prevent or reverse age-related decline in neurological function.

Also our Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention, a state-of-the-art geriatric clinical and research center, is the first research and clinical facility of its kind to incorporate geriatric acute care, transitional care, psychiatry, rehabilitation and basic/clinical research under one roof.

Alzheimer's prevention

The Sticht Center also includes our Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, where our researchers are trying to unlock the causes and early signs of Alzheimer’s disease by focusing on research, education and potential treatments aimed at preventing or slowing Alzheimer’s disease. We concentrate on early intervention and understanding the role played by disorders such as hypertension and diabetes in Alzheimer’s disease. We also work to increase clinical study enrollment of people who are at increased risk and not adequately represented in clinical research.

Cancer

Through our Comprehensive Cancer Center, we have pioneered numerous breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of cancer, including novel chemotherapeutics, immunotherapies, small molecule and nanoparticle therapies, and organ culture. Collaboration and multidisciplinary research drive our disease-oriented teams and centers of excellence.

Cardiovascular disease

We’ve been at the forefront of heart and vascular care for nearly 30 years, and the  Cardiovascular Sciences Center are committed to better understanding the causes of and best treatments for hypertension and vascular disease and to providing key coordination and support services to our investigators.

Diabetes, obesity and metabolism

Two of America’s most common health issues are diabetes and obesity. Our Center on Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism strives to uncover new information regarding the metabolic basis of diabetes and obesity, as well as the wide spectrum of diseases in which metabolism plays a role. Researchers then take that knowledge and apply it to improving strategies for prevention, treatment and diagnosis of those conditions.

Neurosciences

Our institution features a large and diverse body of neuroscience research. In addition to work in ALS, spinal conditions, headaches, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and stroke, our Center for Addiction Research is a leading pain and addiction research program focused on improving treatments for chronic pain and addressing substance use and abuse.

Regenerative medicine

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is recognized as an international leader in translating scientific discovery into clinical therapies, with many world firsts, including the development and implantation of the first engineered organ in a patient. Over 400 people at the institute, the largest in the world, work on more than 40 different tissues and organs. A number of the basic principles of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine were first developed at the institute. WFIRM researchers have successfully engineered replacement tissues and organs in all 4 categories – flat structures, tubular tissues, hollow organs and solid organs. Additionally, 16 different applications of cell/tissue therapy technologies, such as skin, urethras, cartilage, bladders, muscle, kidney and vaginal organs, have been successfully used in human patients.

Dig deeper into our culture of research and education by exploring some of our latest features and stories.

Grants and Published Research

Grants and Published Research 600x600

Learn more about the grants and published research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine

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Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Research Focus Areas

Translation to Care

More Resources

About the School

Facts and Figures

Education

Programs

MD Program

PA Program

BSN to DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program

Post Master's DNP Program

Biomedical Graduate Programs

Residencies and Fellowships

Continuing Professional Education

Conferences and Workshops

Distance Education

Certificate Programs

The Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning

Research

Healthy aging

Alzheimer's prevention

Cancer

Cardiovascular disease

Diabetes, obesity and metabolism

Neurosciences

Regenerative medicine

Health Equity

Explore Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Academic Accreditation

History

Admissions

Faculty Affairs

Leadership

Facilities and Environment