A Doctor of Medicine degree or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree is required in order to become a physician or surgeon in the United States. Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine and Doctors of Medicine complete four-year degrees and are fully licensed physicians. Both degrees are obtained from accredited medical schools.
Two medical schools in Atlanta are M.D., granting colleges accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The LCME is an organization sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accrediting authority for medical education institutions. A third medical school in Atlanta grants D.O. degrees and is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.
The Emory University School of Medicine can trace its roots to 1854 and the founding of the Atlanta Medical College. It was established in 1915 with the merger of the Atlanta Medical College, the Southern Medical College and the Atlanta School of Medicine. The School of Medicine is located on the university's main campus in the Druid Hills section of Atlanta. In 2010, it was ranked 20th in research and 25th overall in primary care curriculum out of 146 medical schools in the United States, by U.S. News and World Report. It is affiliated with a number of Atlanta-area medical institutions, including Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Centers for Disease Control. In addition to an M.D. program, the college also has Ph.D. and M.S. programs.
The Morehouse School of Medicine is a private medical school in the Atlanta University Center in downtown Atlanta. Originally founded as a part of Morehouse College in 1975, the medical school has been independent since 1981. The college confers M.D. and Master of Public Health degrees, as well as Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in clinical research and biomedical sciences. Morehouse has seven residency programs, including Family Medicine, Preventive Medicine, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics. Students complete their primary care and clinical training mainly at Grady Memorial Hospital. In 2010, Morehouse's primary care curriculum was ranked 30th out of 146 medical schools by U.S. News & World Report.
The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine was founded in 1899 and is one of the oldest and largest osteopathic medical schools in the United States. A new branch of the college was established in response to an increasing need for primary care physicians and other medical clinicians in the South. The college's 20-acre Georgia Campus opened in 2005 and offers a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program, Doctor of Pharmacy program and graduate programs in biomedical sciences, including a Master of Science program. The campus is located 27 miles north of downtown Atlanta in the suburban community of Suwanee, Georgia.