Old North State Medical Society is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization in North Carolina and the second oldest chartered African American Medical Society in America. It is the official North Carolina affiliate of the National Medical Association representing the interest of 3200 African American physicians practicing in the state. The society, which is comprised of eight component local societies with approximately 830 active members, is dedicated to equitable healthcare for all NC citizens and eliminating racial, ethnic and economic health disparities. We operate across the state of North Carolina including 8 main locations and their surrounding areas; Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, Jacksonville, Raleigh and Winston-Salem. In addition to advocating the safeguarding of African American and other minority physicians, our primary interest is in educating and advocating for the most vulnerable of vulnerable patients and people residing in communities that consistently produce poorer health outcomes.

Established in 1887 in Raleigh, NC at Shaw University’s Leonard School of Medicine, the society was organized for the purpose of advancing African Americans in medicine. This included Black physicians providing continuing medical education to one another, and challenging the corruption and unfairness of Jim Crow laws and their impact on healthcare. At that time, African American physicians, dentists and pharmacists united to resist injustice including the denial of Blacks to the field of medicine and exclusionary health policies and practices that prevented African American physicians from caring for their patients while placed in white hospitals. They were not allowed to participate in the three white medical societies. Representing specialties, the Society was originally known as, Old North State Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Society. The conjoint provided a way for families to interact.

Today, the work of Old North State Medical Society continues in an environment of ever increasing demand. Chief areas of members efforts include health advocacy for physicians and patients, elimination of health disparities, increasing minority enrollment in medical schools and increased patient access to medical care in North Carolina.