Cherokee Nation to Break Ground on OSU Medical School Campus

Published May 18, 2019 

 OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation is first tribally-affiliated medical school on tribal land

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Leaders from the Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences will officially break ground Monday on the approximately 80,000 square-foot OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation.

The new, accredited medical school campus will be located on the W.W. Hastings campus in Tahlequah, and is the first tribally-affiliated medical school on tribal land in the United States.

“This groundbreaking marks a monumental achievement for not only Cherokee Nation, but for all of Indian Country,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. “We know that Native Americans make up only 0.2 percent of medical students nationwide. Through our work with the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine here at the Cherokee Nation, we are taking important steps to fill that gap and produce more physicians that are tribal citizens. They will positively impact rural northeastern Oklahoma with their medical service.”

The facility will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, lecture halls and cutting-edge technology such as computer-programmable manikins and medical simulation. The college is slated to open with 50 students in 2020. The medical school is expected to serve 200 students when it becomes fully operational.

“The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Cherokee Nation have a shared vision of populating rural and underserved Oklahoma with OSU primary care physicians,” said Kayse Shrum, D.O., OSU-CHS president and dean of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine. “I can’t think of a better way to achieve this vision than by partnering with the Cherokee Nation to establish the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation. The groundbreaking for this new medical school in Tahlequah marks a new day for rural and tribal health.”

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WHAT:

Groundbreaking ceremony for the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation

WHEN:

Monday, May 20, 2019 – 10 a.m.

WHERE:       

19500 E. Ross St., Tahlequah, Oklahoma

WHO:             

  • Principal Chief Bill John Baker
  • Chief of Staff Chuck Hoskin
  • Cherokee Nation Businesses Executive Vice President Chuck Garrett
  • W.W. Hastings Hospital CEO Brian Hail
  • Cherokee Spiritual Advisor Crosslin Smith
  • OSU Center for Health Sciences President Dr. Kayse Shrum
  • OSU/A&M Board of Regents Chair Calvin Anthony
  • OSUCOM-CN Dean William Pettit

 

 

 

 

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