Record-breaking medical school class orients itself toward success
Class of 2030 is Brody’s 50th since becoming a four-year medical school
Published Jul 28, 2026 by
- Bobby Ampezzan
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- At 96 students, the Brody School of Medicine’s Class of 2030 is the largest ever, selected from the largest pool of applications — more than 2,500 — ever received.
- It’s the 50th incoming class since Brody became a four-year medical school in 1977 and is one year away from enjoying the opening of the Brody Center for Medical Education, a $265 million construction project that promises to expand class sizes even more and offer state-of-the-art educational settings and simulations.
A new class of first-year East Carolina University medical students arrived July 20 for orientation. At 96 students, they are the largest incoming class ever, selected from a record-breaking applicant pool that exceeded 2,500
Keyera Wynn is a former ECU soccer player who earned a master’s degree in public health where she researched whether cognitive behavioral therapy with lifestyle support reduced the emotional burden in patients with Type 2 diabetes, allowing them to improve self-care behavior
This is the school’s 50th incoming class since admitting the first four-year class in 1977
To get inside the building, they walked past a $265-million construction project set to open next summer that will greatly expand both class sizes and medical education — a testament to the success of medical education at ECU
For the kickoff breakfast, students were told to wear shirts indicating where they’d gone for their undergraduate degree. Along with ECU, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, the University of Virginia, Alabama and Auburn, Cornell and Vanderbilt were represented. Many smaller schools such as Barton College in Wilson, Methodist University in Fayetteville, and Wheaton College in Illinois were there. One student came from the University of Southern California.
Keyera Wynn, 25, is a former ECU Pirate soccer player
Wynn was recruited from Greensboro to play soccer for the University of Maryland. When she graduated with a degree in biology, she still had two years of eligibility, so she took the opportunity to transfer to ECU to play soccer and earn a master’s in public health
Working with Drs. Suzanne Lea and Doyle “Skip” Cummings, she embarked on a research project examining whether cognitive behavioral therapy with lifestyle support reduced the emotional burden in patients with Type 2 diabetes, allowing them to improve self-care behavior. (She drafted a manuscript expected to be submitted for publication in the fall.)
She got into multiple medical schools but chose to stay in Greenville
“I got advice from Kam Henderson when I was trying to decide” — Henderson is a Brody Scholar and fellow Maryland alumnae and student-athlete — “and she told me how she was so happy with her choice, and about the community feel here. Her testimony was a big reason why I chose Brody.”
“I remember vividly being where you are my first day of med school,” said Dr. Michael Waldrum, dean of the medical school and CEO of ECU Health. “You worked so hard to be in this room. So no matter where you come from, congratulations on making it here.”
Medical school is one of the hardest advanced academic degrees to obtain. American medical schools generally admit only a fraction of the total qualified applications they receive. Once in medical degree programs, students’ work and study generally exceeds 50 hours a week
A Week Preparing to Succeed
Kema Gadson, associate dean for student affairs, hosted the Monday morning kickoff. She previewed the changes this new crop was facing by drawing on the 1980s TV show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” Where the rich have a private chef and personal trainers and assistants, medical students learn meal prep, demonstrate time management, and adhere to rigid sleep and exercise routines. Where the rich may have a security detail, these students have the offices of Student Affairs, Student Success and Wellness, Medical Education and more that will stop at nothing to see they succeed, she said.
“It is not enough to want it. It is not even enough to stay up all hours getting after it. You must have a plan to succeed in this degree program, and that plan must make use of all of the proven tools in place, all of the institutional experts who are here at your disposal who will not easily accept your defeat,” Gadson said
The week included introductions to the offices Gadson referenced, icebreakers with Orientation Ambassadors (second-year students), prep for didactic learning and research, CPR for Basic Life Support training and certification, presentations on financial health, technology and software ordering, even programming for students’ parents and family. On Friday, it wrapped up with a discussion of narrative medicine and wellness and what to expect of the fall semester, and finally, the Albernaz Golden Apple Distinguished Lecture delivered by Dr. Kristel McLawhorn ’05, a transplant nephrologist and partner at Eastern Nephrology Associates and the first Brody alumnus picked for the lecture series, now in its 18th year.
“I think the moral of my story is, you’re always becoming who and what you’re meant to be,” she said. “Every choice, every encounter, every turn or detour you take, they all shape who you are and who you’re becoming. I’d like to think what I worked to be is who I am, for now.”
As he addressed the new class over a light breakfast on the very first morning, Dr. Jason Higginson, executive dean of the school, connected the success everyone in the room must have achieved to meet here at medical school to their ultimate potential
“Hopefully, some dean or student here someday in the future will be talking about your major accomplishments, and that you attended the Brody School of Medicine. We love to bring our alumni back who have important contributions to medicine. That’s what we’re hoping for from you.”
Cole Tangye shares a laugh with Trace Wilson at the kickoff breakfast on Day 1 of the Brody School of Medicine’s 2026-2027 academic year orientation. Tangye’s Class of 2030 is the biggest ever, selected from the biggest applicant pool in the school’s history
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