OK State and Cherokee Nation announce new medical school

Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma State University officials will formally announce today a medical partnership designed to improve the health of rural Oklahomans in the northeast corner of the state.

The OSU Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) will establish the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, the first-ever tribally-affiliated medical school in America.

The school will be accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation as an additional location of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa and is designed to help address the chronic health-access and physician shortages experienced by rural Oklahomans.

When fully operational the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation expects to train up to 50 new physicians a year for a combined potential total enrollment of 200 medical students.

The new partnership will also allow for groundbreaking research on health issues affecting Native American populations, including data analytics, population health, precision medicine and epigenetics.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker and OSU Center for Health Sciences President Dr. Kayse Shrum will unveil the partnership’s plans and reveal details on the school, its curriculum, its mission and more.

Cherokee Nation currently operates the largest tribal health system in the United States, including eight ambulatory health centers and a hospital, with a 469,000 square-foot outpatient health facility scheduled to open in 2019.

The formal announcement will take place later today at the Cherokee National Peace Pavilion in Tahlequah.