I actually don't think they push you very hard towards primary care, but they are always stressing the need for more docs in NC during speeches and such. That does also include general surgeons though. The Family Medicine club is also the most established club in the school, but that is largely because our student population is such that a lot of people want to do primary care. But plenty of people don't want to do primary care at all, and it's obviously not a big deal.
As for research, it's here if you look hard enough for it - there are a few people who have gotten involved in research already. But it's not that prevalent because again, a lot of our students want to do primary care, mission trips, service, whatever, and prefer that over research. And the school doesn't really want you to get involved in ECs during the first block because they want you to get settled in first (grades first then everything else type of thing - understandable, but annoying). You can also set up summer REUs at the various other schools in the area - NCSU is the closest, but you can try Duke and UNC as well. Basically, research is not non-existent here, and it's possible to do and get published, but you're going to have to seek out the opportunities for yourself, they won't land in your lap like at many other schools.
