BUIES CREEK - Campbell University's medical school has been cleared to recruit students.

The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation decided Saturday to give Campbell's School of Osteopathic Medicine provisional accreditation status. The accreditation, which becomes effective July 1, allows the school to admit students and offer medical instruction with an approved osteopathic curriculum.

Medical school officials can recruit students before the accreditation status becomes effective.

Dr. John Kauffman, the medical school's founding dean, said the school will begin accepting student applications June 1. Classes are expected to start in August 2013.

Campbell officials say the medical school will eventually graduate about 150 doctors a year. Many will go on to practice in rural areas of North Carolina, they say.

Students will spend their first two years training in a 96,500-square-foot medical school being built on U.S. 421. Third and fourth year medical students will train in community hospitals across the state, Kauffman said.

Jerry Wallace, president of Campbell University, said the accreditation is exciting for Campbell, the medical school, Harnett County and North Carolina.

"This medical school will train primary care physicians to address a critical shortage of healthcare professionals throughout our state," he said.

- Steve DeVane

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Campbell University's medical school cleared to recruit students