East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine is one of 15 nationwide and the only medical school in North Carolina included in the top tier of medical schools in a new ranking released July 23 by U.S. News & World Report.
In the 2024 Best Medical Schools rankings, the Brody School of Medicine has the highest percentage of graduates from public universities in North Carolina practicing primary care medicine, including in rural areas and in federally designated health service shortage areas.
“Brody has a 50-year history of training students from various backgrounds to serve all communities in North Carolina, especially the rural and underserved. We recognize the need now more than ever to develop primary care physicians that will meet the needs of North Carolina,” said Dr. Jason Higginson, executive dean of the Brody School of Medicine.
According to U.S. News, ECU had 34.9% of its 2015-2017 graduates practicing in primary care specialties, with 57.3% of those graduates entering primary care residencies. Those specialties included family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, geriatrics, general practice or internal medicine pediatrics.
U.S. News changed its methodology this year, presenting institutions’ overall score in primary care and research in tiers instead of ordinal rankings. There are four tiers, with Tier 1 schools such as Brody that are calculated as the highest performing and Tier 4 the lowest performing. Within each tier, schools are sorted alphabetically on the U.S. News website.
Brody consistently ranks near the top in the U.S. in the following categories addressing the extent that graduates practice in primary care:
Most Graduates Practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas — 25th of 168 schools (top 15% in the nation and the top public university in N.C.) These are federally defined geographic areas, populations or facilities with a shortage of primary, dental or mental health care providers.Most Graduates Practicing in Primary Care — 26th of 169 schools (top 16% and the top public university in N.C.)Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas — 47th out of 168 schools (top 28% and top public university in N.C.)
In addition to primary care, a separate ranking was computed for Best Medical Schools: Research.
The primary care and research rankings considered schools’ faculty resources and the academic achievements of entering students, including student selectivity, median MCAT score, median undergraduate GPA and acceptance rate. Several evaluative factors were increased in weight to compensate for peer and residency assessments that are no longer included in the formulas, U.S. News said.
According to U.S. News, it surveyed 196 medical and osteopathic schools fully accredited in 2024 by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association. This data — and sometimes third-party statistics — was used to calculate the tiers and the diversity and practice rankings, as well as to populate each medical school’s profile on the website.
ECU researchers explore lost Aleutian battlefield
ECU faculty and alumni from the maritime studies program, housed in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Department of History, successfully led the first underwater archaeology investigation in the waters off Attu Island (Atux) in the Aleutian Islands July 17-27.
The project is led by Dominic Bush, a recent alumnus of ECU’s coastal resources management program within Integrated Coastal Programs and research associate with Ships of Discovery Inc.; Jason Raupp, ECU assistant professor of history in the maritime studies program; and Caroline Funk, research assistant professor at the University at Buffalo.
Attu is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The island was the backdrop for the only World War II battle, known as the “Forgotten Battle,” fought on North American soil. In May 1943, the U.S. military launched an assault against Japanese forces, who captured Attu in 1942. The Japanese invasion marked the first time a foreign power occupied U.S. territory in North America since the War of 1812 — a feat that has not since been repeated. Eight decades later, the Battle of Attu, and by extension, the North Pacific theater, remains the least studied campaign of World War II.
Researchers from the U.S. and Japan explored the seafloor using a combination of synthetic aperture sonar, an emergent form of acoustic imaging technology, along with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with underwater cameras to detect and identify any remains of aircraft, ships or other submerged features.
Three WWII-era shipwrecks were located and identified, marking the first time these vessels have been seen in more than eight decades. Included are the only two Japanese military ships believed to be situated within U.S. waters. The first, Kotohira Maru, was a 5,000-ton freighter that carried provisions, housing materials and fuel for Japanese troops stationed on Attu. It was sunk by a U.S. Navy weather plane on Jan. 5, 1943, with only two of its crew rescued. Despite war-era charts indicating its suspected location, the survey team located the fairly intact remains of Kotohira Maru more than half a mile from its last reported position, in nearly 300 feet of water.
Closer to shore, Yasumasa Ichikawa, chief technical officer of World Scan Project, utilized a combination of aerial and underwater drones to inspect the purported location of the second Japanese shipwreck, Cheribon Maru. Draped in kelp and other marine growth, the remains of the 3,000-ton freighter, sunk on Thanksgiving Day 1942 by American bombers, were observed in less than 30 feet of water.
The lone American ship located as a part of this project was the U.S. Army cable layer SS Dellwood, whose discovery came 81 years to the day of its sinking. The nearly 3,500-ton ship had struck a submerged pinnacle on July 19, 1943, and sank while being towed to a nearby dock. Both sonar and ROV imagery revealed the severely disjointed state of the former cable ship, likely the result of post-wrecking bombing as it had become a navigational hazard. Now resting over 100 feet below the sea surface, SS Dellwood provides a unique glimpse into U.S. military operations in the Aleutians after the battle.
According to Bush and Raupp, the exceedingly high-resolution sonar enabled the identification of many smaller targets, most of which they said would be impossible to see using more traditional forms of remote sensing. They said the seafloor around Attu is littered with vestiges of World War II, including dozens of anchors, chains, mooring blocks and sunken buoys, as well as materials used in base construction, such as timbers, piping and cable. They found numerous sections of anti-submarine netting.
“Overall, the project marks the beginning of what is sure to be an increased focus on the oft-forgotten Aleutian Island campaign and by extension Alaska’s World War II history,” said Raupp.
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