Tennessee Medical Schools

We’ve compiled statistics on Tennessee medical schools’ rankings, locations, academic metrics, and more so you can measure the schools side-by-side. While collecting this data, we noticed the following:

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Medical Schools in Tennessee

East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine

178 Maple Avenue
Mountain Home, TN 37684

Campus location(s): Johnson City

The East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine is a 4-year MD-granting program that welcomed its inaugural class in 1978. The Quillen College of Medicine hopes to train primary care physicians and wants to increase the number of doctors in rural communities. ETSU has a strong preference for in-state residents and applicants from the Appalachian region. Outside of academics, students spend time attending social events put on by the school, participate in organizations, or volunteer!

Meharry Medical College School of Medicine

1005 Dr DB Todd Jr Blvd
Nashville, TN 37208

Campus location(s): Nashville

The School of Medicine of Meharry Medical College is a 4-year MD-granting program that welcomed its first class in 1876. Meharry Medical College is an HBCU that is committed to education for African Americans and serving the underserved, although each class at Merharry has a mix of different races and cultures present. Students volunteer at the student run Salt Wagon Clinic providing care for the underinsured. Each year Meharry provides over 35 million dollars in uncompensated care. Many students are involved in student-run organizations and in the community. Three out of every four Meharrians return to urban or rural communities to practice.

University of Tennessee College of Medicine

910 Madison Avenue Suite 1031
Memphis, TN 38163

Campus location(s): Memphis

The University of Tennessee College of Medicine is a 4-year MD-granting program that traces its roots back to 1876. Students at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine spend their first two years in Memphis for their preclinical years. Then clerkships can be completed in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, or Nashville. The College of Medicine provides many research opportunities for students, including at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. The University of Tennessee College of Medicine has many clubs on campus for students to participate in, including a Women in Medicine Club.

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

2209 Garland Avenue
Nashville, TN 37240

Campus location(s): Nashville

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is a 4-year MD-granting program that welcomed its first students in 1874. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s Curriculum 2.0 has four courses that are involved in each year of medical schools including: Core Clinical Curriculum (commonly seen cases), Foundations of Health Care Delivery, Learning Communities, and Research. Vanderbilt University has a commitment to diversity, and 20 percent of their incoming class is from groups underrepresented in medicine. Students have many opportunities to be involved on campus, whether that be at the Shade Tree Clinic that provides care to the underinsured, attending the Cadaver Ball, or participating in a club. Also, students at VUSM are sorted into colleges, and each year they compete for the College Cup and Olympic Style Day.

Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

6965 Cumberland Gap Pkwy
Harrogate, TN 37752

Campus location(s): Harrogate

Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine is a 4-year DO-granting program that matriculated its inaugural class in 2007. DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine hopes to train physicians to serve the Appalachian Region and beyond, as well as to enhance the care of the underserved. Lincoln Memorial University allows student to receive their medical education in an interprofessional environment, preparing them for the future. The school requires all students to do rural underserved inpatient and outpatient rotations. Rotations can be completed in a number of areas such as Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Ohio, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, and Virginia. The College of Osteopathic Medicine gives each student an academic advisor their first year and provides a Student Assistance Program—a 24-hour program for students who are struggling.

Medical Schools in Tennessee: How to Get In (2023)

Which are the best medical schools in Tennessee? Discover the Tennessee medical school rankings, plus strategies to get into your top-choice programs

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: List of medical schools in Tennessee: 2023 rankings and admissions statistics

Part 3: Tennessee medical school profiles

Part 4: Tennessee medical school admissions strategies

Appendix A: Tennessee medical schools by degree type

Appendix B: Tennessee medical schools by institution type

Part 1: Introduction

Tennessee is a diverse state with many opportunities to explore history and spectacular natural scenery, including the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, the National Civil Rights Museum, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Lookout Mountain. On top of this, Tennessee is well-known for its five medical schools, located in various cities from Memphis to Nashville to Johnson City.

While a medical student in Tennessee, you may choose to explore urban areas like Nashville or escape to Harrogate for more of a college-town feel. And whether you opt to study at a large, academic medical institution like Vanderbilt University or at a preventive-care-oriented school such as Lincoln Memorial University–DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, it is likely that you will find at least one Tennessee medical school that aligns with your own interests and goals.

Our goal for this guide is to help you understand the strengths and distinctive features of Tennessee medical schools, including their admissions statistics, curricula, clinical rotation sites, and extracurricular offerings, so you can determine which schools best fit your goals. Additionally, you can use this information to prepare informed, school-specific essays and interview responses in order to increase your likelihood of receiving an acceptance from the Tennessee school of your choice.

Part 2: List of medical schools in Tennessee: 2023 rankings and admissions statistics

We’ve compiled statistics on Tennessee medical schools’ rankings, locations, academic metrics, and more so you can measure the schools side-by-side. While collecting this data, we noticed the following:

Tennessee medical schools encompass a wide range of average GPAs and MCAT scores.
Tennessee’s two public medical schools matriculate extremely high percentages of in-state Tennessee residents.
Four Tennessee medical schools appear in the 2023 U.S. News Research ranking, with one in the top 15.

In the rankings column below, each Tennessee medical school’s national ranking appears inside parentheses, whereas its relative rank appears outside of parentheses. Relative rankings help us more easily answer the question, “Which are the ‘best’ medicals school in Tennessee?”

(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.)

Tennessee Medical Schools	US News Ranking	Location	Degree	Year Est.	Annual Tuition & Fees	Avg. GPA	Avg. MCAT	Interview Rate	First-Year Class Size
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine	1 (13)	Nashville	MD	1873	$65,166 IS $65,166 OOS	3.95	521	11.6% IS 10.5% OOS	95 (10.5% IS)
University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine*	2 (68)	Memphis	MD	1911	$36,095 IS $53,379 OOS	3.9	513	40.6% IS 2.0% OOS	176 (93.8% IS)
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine*	3 (95–124)	Johnson City	MD	1974	$35,012 IS $44,862 OOS	3.79	509	36.1% IS 3.5% OOS	79 (83.5% IS)
Lincoln Memorial University–DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine	3 (95–124)	Harrogate	DO	2006	$53,200 IS $53,200 OOS	3.4	501	NA	393 (24.9% IS)
Meharry Medical College	UR	Nashville	MD	1876	$57,243 IS $57,243 OOS	3.46	503	48.3% IS 0.3% OOS	114 (20.2% IS)

*Public medical schools in Tennessee | UR: Unranked | IS: In-state | OOS: Out-of-state | NA: Not available

Tennessee Medical Schools