{"id":1784,"date":"2023-06-05T21:09:17","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T01:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2025-08-14T15:25:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T19:25:05","slug":"small-yet-mighty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/","title":{"rendered":"Small yet mighty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VTCSOM is state’s most competitive medical school<\/strong> –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Way back when, Roanoke was a train city \u2014 the headquarters for Norfolk and Western Railway and a late-1800s hub for the Shenandoah Valley Railroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scenic mountain community, however, has grown into a bustling region with a variety of successful industries, including one standout: health care. With the formation of Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), the product of a public-private partnership between the university and the nonprofit Carilion Clinic health system, Roanoke has become a hotspot for medical talent, research and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was once just a brownfield a little south of the city center is now home to VTCSOM, a medical research institute and clinical facilities. In fact, VTCSOM is considered one of the major \u201csuccess stories\u201d from a brownfield grants program run by the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2008, the city of Roanoke received a $200,000 grant to clean up the scrapyards around South Jefferson where the medical school and Carilion Clinic hub stands today.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the people who formed the [Virginia Tech Carilion] partnership envisioned building assets that would be shared between Virginia Tech and Carilion here in Roanoke, including a research institute at a medical school, they really were thinking about transforming Roanoke from a \u2026 \u2018train city\u2019 to a \u2018brain city,\u2019\u201d explains Dr. Lee A. Learman, the medical school\u2019s dean since 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small medical school, which graduated its 10th class of doctors in May, has become one of the country\u2019s most competitive medical schools. It has the third lowest acceptance rate in the nation, according to College Evaluator. For the class of 2025, 6,405 prospective students applied to VTCSOM, and just 49 students were accepted \u2014 a 0.77% acceptance rate. By comparison, 6,914 people applied to Harvard Medical School for entrance in 2022, and 226 were admitted \u2014 a 3.3% acceptance rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VTC is also the most selective medical school in Virginia, compared with acceptance rates ranging from 0.85% at Eastern Virginia Medical School to 4.5% at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. VTC is also the state\u2019s smallest medical school; it began enrolling 49 students per year in 2020, after starting with classes of only 42 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Aubrey Knight, senior dean of student affairs at VTC, says that this small expansion doesn\u2019t mean the school is any less competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growth in class size is \u201cincremental, it\u2019s relatively small,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re still a very small school. Going from 42 to 49 [students], I don\u2019t think makes that much difference in the culture of the school or in the process for admitting students. The process for admissions is more about our reputation and the growing number of people that are applying and interested in the medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symbiotic partnership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As its name makes clear, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is a true partnership between the university and the regional health care system. In summer 2014, the medical school received full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and on July 1, 2018, it officially became the ninth school
at Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic operates a network of seven hospitals, as well as primary and specialty care practices serving nearly 1 million Virginians across the Roanoke and New River valleys as well as the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia. This robust network of physicians is what allowed Virginia Tech to establish its own medical school, says Nancy Agee, president and CEO of Carilion Clinic, which has grown into an almost $2 billion medical system over its nearly 125-year history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe school doesn\u2019t exist without us. It\u2019s very much a clear and compelling partnership,\u201d she says. \u201cMedical students, residents, fellows and faculty, all those are intricately linked.\u201d Carilion Clinic physicians train medical school students; Virginia Tech does not employ the professors, she explains. This has been a symbiotic relationship \u2014 in that Carilion Clinic employs more than 1,000 physicians, up from the 600 the organization had when Agee became CEO in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, there are 600 Carilion Clinic physicians who are also VTCSOM teaching faculty. These 600 physicians are paid exclusively by Carilion; however, the medical school has a total of 871 faculty, with the others having different employers and affiliations. Virginia Tech employs 78 faculty members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a sea change, frankly, and the School of Medicine has been a catalyst for it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was part of our plan at the beginning, so we\u2019re achieving that vision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Virginia Tech Carilion medical students don\u2019t have guaranteed residency programs with Carilion Clinic, some end up \u201cmatching\u201d with one of Carilion\u2019s programs. Upon graduation from medical school, students across the country participate in a matching process in which prospects rank their top residency programs, and the medical programs do the same with the students. Medical grads typically match with a residency program, which can vary in specialty, length and location. For the VTC class of 2023, seven students matched with Carilion, and since 2014, 57 students have matched with the regional medical network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others, though, have matched with increasingly competitive programs, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. So far, VTC has had a 100% match rate for students pursuing residencies, which is somewhat rare, even at other highly regarded medical schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe factor is more about our graduates performing well and opening the door for subsequent students,\u201d Knight says. \u201cWe\u2019ve always had very strong students. Other people are recognizing that to a greater degree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahana Nazeer, who graduated from VTC in June, will return to her hometown, Boston, for a child psychiatry residency program at Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital, consistently ranked as one of the nation\u2019s best hospitals. Coming from Brown University, Nazeer wasn\u2019t necessarily eager to move to Roanoke \u2014 a city mostly unknown to her \u2014 but it quickly felt like a place where she could build a community. With small class sizes, Nazeer says she felt comfortable approaching and working with her classmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like I walk away from medical school feeling like I\u2019ve had an individual relationship with each person in my class,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know many med students that could really say that, too. I can 100% say, now, four years later, I\u2019m going to miss Roanoke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sense of community largely hinges on the school\u2019s problem-based learning, in which small groups of students work through medical scenarios together, teaching each other how to be successful in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Adam Tate, a 2018 VTC graduate, also found that having significant direct contact with faculty, medical residents and attending physicians made his medical school experience an \u201cinvolved and immersive classroom and clinical learning environment,\u201d he says. \u201cI developed both amazing friendships and professional relationships from my time in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research chops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because VTC is so competitive, incoming students often have serious research chops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really do want a student who has some experience in and can hit the ground running with research,\u201d Knight says. \u201cWhile we have a curriculum and we do teach them the basics of clinical research and biomedical research, we expect that they\u2019ve had some experiences prior to coming, so that it\u2019s not a shock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Tech Carilion students, staff and faculty note that the school\u2019s focus on research is another factor that makes it unique when compared with other medical schools. That\u2019s largely due to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, which was founded in 2010 and focuses on the study of diseases such as brain disorders, heart disease and cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFralin does some very significant biomedical research, and students are very involved with Fralin and our faculty,\u201d Agee says. \u201cSomething that we\u2019ll continue to focus on is commercialization of research,\u201d including redesigning medical products by using artificial intelligence and machine learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All medical students are expected to conduct weekslong \u201coriginal, hypothesis-driven research\u201d during their three-and-a-half-year medical school journeys. Plus, each student receives $1,000 per year for research supplies during years two through four. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outcomes have been impressive over the past decade: More than 100 students have published their research, and nearly 400 have presented their findings at regional, national or international conferences. In March, VTCSOM hosted its Medical Student Research Symposium, highlighting student research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VTCSOM\u2019s focus on research is very different from old-school medical training, Learman explains. Many medical schools have academic departments focused on different disciplines, including physiology, biochemistry and anatomy, and were built out with large faculties lecturing students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard when you\u2019re a student learning abstract knowledge and principles to not understand how those get applied in actual patient care,\u201d Learman says. \u201cOur students finish with a research certificate. When they get to residency, they\u2019re far more facile with how to implement knowledge to impact clinical decision-making as a result of these research requirements they\u2019ve been able to fulfill over the four-year curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return to Roanoke<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roanoke may not always be the first place VTC graduates practice medicine, but it\u2019s often a final destination. Both Tate and his wife, VTC alum Dr. Megan Whitham, pursued residencies elsewhere before returning to Roanoke to work at Carilion Clinic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitham works in maternal fetal medicine, while Tate practices family medicine. Originally from Carroll County, Tate was \u201cpsyched\u201d to get to study medicine near home and Southwest Virginia\u2019s Appalachian Mountains, a region negatively affected by a shortage of doctors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe both loved being here during school and made many important connections, which contributed to our desire to move back once we were finished with residency and fellowship training,\u201d Tate says. Plus, Whitham notes, Roanoke was \u201can exciting place for us to come back to because it has been developing quickly, and there is a growing young professional community that is so welcoming in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 25% of VTC students stay in Virginia for their residencies, Learman says, and of the 408 students who have graduated from the medical school so far, he anticipates about 100 of them will come back to the state to practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also happy that we can create a net increase in the Virginia workforce by attracting people from outside of Virginia who fall in love with this region and may go away temporarily to do residency but come back ultimately to live and to work,\u201d Learman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incremental growth is what\u2019s next for the school, officials say. This will include the construction of more medical training space and the small increase in the number of new students at VTC to 49 in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Architectural planning for the future building hasn\u2019t begun yet, and timelines aren\u2019t mapped out, but officials envision the new construction to more than double the size of the current 51,000-square-foot facility, a VTCSOM spokesperson says. While a target class size hasn\u2019t yet been determined, the expansion could allow the school to double in enrollment. However, the school would not enroll more than 100 students per class, \u201cwhich would still be a small medical school by national standards,\u201d the spokesperson adds. (The median medical school class size nationally is 140 students, with a range of 40 to 250, according to the Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe transformation of an industrial brownfield into a rapidly growing health science and technology campus over the past decade is a remarkable success story for the Roanoke-Blacksburg region and the commonwealth as a whole,\u201d says Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. \u201cWe are excited about the next phase of growth for VTCSOM.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Tech At a glance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia\u2019s original land-grant university, Virginia Tech was known as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College when it was founded in 1872. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is the state\u2019s second largest public university by enrollment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Tech\u2019s Blacksburg main campus stretches over 2,600 acres. Tech also has regional presences statewide and a study-abroad campus in Switzerland. The university\u2019s Innovation Campus for computer science and computer engineering graduate students will open in Alexandria in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enrollment (2022-23)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate: 30,434<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduate and professional: 7,736<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-state: 23,885<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International: 3,884<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students of color: 8,741<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Male: 57%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Female: 43%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full-time employees: 8,538<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research and teaching
faculty: 2,766<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuition and fees, housing and financial aid*<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-state: $15,476<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out-of-state: $36,393<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Room and board: $11,746<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Average financial aid awarded to full-time, in-state undergraduates seeking assistance in 2021-22: $8,588<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*2023-24 figures, except as noted<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Virginia<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VTCSOM is state’s most competitive medical school – Way back when, Roanoke was a train city \u2014 the headquarters for Norfolk and Western Railway and a late-1800s hub for the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. The scenic mountain community, however, has grown into a bustling region with a variety of successful industries, including one standout: health care. […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSmall yet mighty - Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Small yet mighty - Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VTCSOM is state’s most competitive medical school – Way back when, Roanoke was a train city \u2014 the headquarters for Norfolk and Western Railway and a late-1800s hub for the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. The scenic mountain community, however, has grown into a bustling region with a variety of successful industries, including one standout: health care. [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-06T01:09:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-14T19:25:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Buth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Buth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allison Buth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/person\/32af37eddf208c2b753ea3180d3d18be\"},\"headline\":\"Small yet mighty\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-06T01:09:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-14T19:25:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/\"},\"wordCount\":2041,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/\",\"name\":\"Small yet mighty - Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-06T01:09:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-14T19:25:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":512},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Small yet mighty\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers\",\"description\":\"A career for everyone\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/header-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/header-logo.png\",\"width\":824,\"height\":264,\"caption\":\"Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/person\/32af37eddf208c2b753ea3180d3d18be\",\"name\":\"Allison Buth\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/author\/allison-buthgmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Small yet mighty - Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Small yet mighty - Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers","og_description":"VTCSOM is state’s most competitive medical school – Way back when, Roanoke was a train city \u2014 the headquarters for Norfolk and Western Railway and a late-1800s hub for the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. The scenic mountain community, however, has grown into a bustling region with a variety of successful industries, including one standout: health care. [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/","og_site_name":"Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers","article_published_time":"2023-06-06T01:09:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-14T19:25:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allison Buth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison Buth","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/"},"author":{"name":"Allison Buth","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/person\/32af37eddf208c2b753ea3180d3d18be"},"headline":"Small yet mighty","datePublished":"2023-06-06T01:09:17+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-14T19:25:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/"},"wordCount":2041,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/","name":"Small yet mighty - Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-06T01:09:17+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-14T19:25:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/DSC2508-copy-js-768x512-1.jpg","width":768,"height":512},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/small-yet-mighty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Small yet mighty"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/","name":"Blue Ridge Partnership Health Science Careers","description":"A career for everyone","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#organization","name":"Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers","url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/header-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/header-logo.png","width":824,"height":264,"caption":"Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/#\/schema\/person\/32af37eddf208c2b753ea3180d3d18be","name":"Allison Buth","url":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/author\/allison-buthgmail-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1784"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1811,"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions\/1811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.virginiahealthcareers.org\/blue-ridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}