VCOM 2023 Annual Report

The History of VCOM (continued)

Growing the VCOM Mission Across the Southeastern United States VCOM leadership, while working to meet the needs of Southwest and Southside Virginia, recognized the need to expand the mission to other areas of the Appalachian region, including the mountainous areas of North Carolina and the Piedmont area of upstate South Carolina. The College opened a clinical site for the students in these areas and it wasn’t long until VCOM was approached by the City of Spartanburg and the Spartanburg Regional Hospital to establish a second campus in South Carolina. The purpose of the campus was to serve the Upstate and rural areas of South Carolina and Western North Carolina. VCOM-Carolinas broke ground in 2010 on the site of the historic Spartan Mill. By 2011, the first students arrived, and the College became

a catalyst for a critical and forward-thinking redevelopment of the area.

In 2011, the president of Auburn University, Jay Gogue, shared his concerns about the physician shortages in Alabama with the president of Virginia Tech. The state of Alabama had experienced shortages in all but six counties, and several counties went without physicians. The president of Virginia Tech shared the news of VCOM’s ongoing success in meeting the needs of rural Virginia in the collaboration with Virginia Tech. Impressed by what was learned, Auburn University soon sought to establish a public/private partnership with VCOM and a campus in Auburn, Alabama. The Campus opened to its first class of medical students in 2015. VCOM-Carolinas saw the graduation of its first class that same year.

2014 VCOM breaks ground in Auburn, Alabama. James F. Wolfe retires as president. Dixie Tooke-Rawlins DO, FACOFP, is named as the second president and provost of VCOM. The vice deans on each branch are promoted to dean of their campus.

2015 Construction is completed for the Auburn campus on Auburn University’s planned health sciences campus. The first class of students begin their medical education at VCOM-Auburn, the third VCOM branch campus. The first Carolinas campus class graduates.

2017 VCOM and Auburn University expand the Sports Medicine Fellowship program to Auburn. The program follows the success of the VCOM/Virginia Tech Sports Medicine Fellowship program. The expansion allows VCOM to recruit four additional fellows per academic year.

The Center for One Health Research is initiated as a

collaborative venture between VCOM and the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM), intended to promote joint VCOM-VMCVM research with a strategic vision for future growth.

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