About
The James H. Quillen College of Medicine at Eastern Tennessee State University was founded in 1974. It is located in Johnson City, Tennessee, on ETSU’s VA Campus. Over 1800 physicians have graduated from Quillen since the first graduating class of 1982.
While Quillen utilizes many buildings in its curriculum, most of the classes, faculty, and supporting staff are located in Stanton-Gerber Hall. Unique features in this building include the Gross Anatomy Lab, the Human Patient Simulation Lab, and the Student Study Center.
Students have the opportunity to train in several major medical facilities. Instead of having one major teaching hospital, Quillen has multiple affiliates in order to give students access to over 3,000 patient beds in various settings. Less than 1/4 mile from Stanton-Gerber is the Johnson City Medical Center, home to a Level 1 Trauma Center and Niswonger Children’s Hospital. Located on the ETSU Quillen campus is the VA Medical Center that inclides a 446 bed acute care facility and a 600 bed domicile. Students also train at the Holston Valley Hospital and Medical Center in Kingsport and the Bristol Regional Medical Center. Students also have the opportunity to train in a variety of rural and community clinics.
Located adjacent to the medical school campus, the VA Medical Center includes a 446-bed acute care hospital, an 85-bed intermediate care unit, a 120-bed nursing care unit and a 600-bed domicile. A wide range of services is offered, including primary care, long-term/rehabilitation care, surgery, psychiatric and substance abuse care, residential care, and acute hospital care.
JCMC is the flagship hospital for the Mountain States Health Alliance and was the second hospital built in Tennessee. This 410-bed not-for-profit, comprehensive, acute-care teaching hospital is also a major medical referral center with Level I Trauma Care and the region's only dedicated emergency medical air transport service.
Bristol Regional Medical Center is a 400 bed not-for-profit medical center serving as the major referral center for Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Southeast Kentucky, and parts of West Virginia. Bristol Regional Medical Center provides 24-hour care to the region through the Emergency Department and as a licensed Level R Trauma Center for both Tennessee and Virginia.
Located adjacent to the medical school campus, the VA Medical Center includes a 446-bed acute care hospital, an 85-bed intermediate care unit, a 120-bed nursing care unit and a 600-bed domicile. A wide range of services is offered, including primary care, long-term/rehabilitation care, surgery, psychiatric and substance abuse care, residential care, and acute hospital care.
Quillen ranked 8th in the nation for excellence in rural medicine education by U.S. News & World Report in its “America’s Best Graduate Schools” 2015 edition. For several consecutive years, ETSU has been ranked among the top 10 schools in the country for rural medicine. U.S. News also ranked ETSU in the top 25% of medical schools for primary care education. The National Rural Health Association this year bestowed the “Outstanding Rural Health Program of the Year” award upon the Community Partnerships for Health Professions Education Program at ETSU. While it is not exclusively a primary care school, primary and rural medicine is the school’s priority. Being a nation-wide leader in primary care and rural training, service to these underserved areas of medicine is something that is deeply important to the students, faculty and staff.
The classes themselves have about 72 students each, allowing for a low professor-to-student ratio and more one-on-one attention per student. Quillen’s students have developed a close-knit community that focuses not only on becoming the best doctors in the nation, but being supportive of one anothers’ journeys in medicine, and encouraging others to pursue their passions in the medical community.
