East Tennessee State University's James H. Quillen College of Medicine has landed on the top 10 list of a national magazine that named Johnson City one of the best cities in the United States to attend medical school.

For its January/February issue, PreMedLife researched and compiled the "Top 10 Cities for Medical School." Published in New York City for pre-medical students, PreMedLife not only ranked Johnson City among its top 10 but also christened it to be the magazine's "editor's choice."

The PreMedLife story based its rankings on cities that offer medical students the best overall experience outside the classroom. Students at the Quillen College of Medicine, the magazine wrote, benefit from a low cost of living, affordable housing, a nice climate, free arts and music festivals and good public transportation. It specifically cited BucShot, the ETSU transit system that serves the greater campus area as a perk. The article also wrote that "…Johnson City is considered an economic hub which is largely fueled by East Tennessee State University and what's called the Med-Tech corridor, linked by Johnson City Medical Center, Franklin Woods Community Hospital, ETSU's Gatton College of Pharmacy and ETSU's Quillen College of Medicine."

Quillen admitted its first class in 1978 with a specific mission to increase the numbers of physicians who practice in the medically-underserved areas of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The school graduated its first class of physicians in 1982 and has awarded 1,612 M.D. degrees. Since Quillen opened its doors, access to physicians and the quality of health care has improved dramatically in the Tri-Cities region. Last year's County Health Rankings judged Washington County's clinical care to be the best among all 95 counties in Tennessee, while Sullivan County was ranked second.

"We're pleased to be included in the PreMedLife top 10 list," said Dr. Philip C. Bagnell, dean of the College of Medicine. "We're proud of the excellent medical education we deliver to students, and we're fortunate that Johnson City offers our students an excellent quality of life, too. That quality of life is one reason why so many Quillen graduates decide to stay and practice medicine in our region."

PreMedLife magazine is available online at www.premedlife.com. Quillen is online at www.etsu.edu/com.