First graduates from OSU, Cherokee Nation medical school look to serve rural, tribal areas

By Kolby Terrell

Click here for updates on this story

    OKLAHOMA (KOCO) — The first cohort of Oklahoma State University doctors will graduate from a partnership with the Cherokee Nation this week.

The Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation was created to help fill a shortage of rural and tribal physicians. Dr. Natash Bray, the dean of the school, said the doctors will likely return to these underserved areas after their residencies.

“About two-thirds of those students are staying in Oklahoma for their residency training, so we’re going to be able to keep them in our communities,” Bray said.

The class includes 46 medical students from the Cherokee Nation program. The graduation will be held on Thursday.

Since 2020, they have learned alongside Cherokee Nation providers to understand rural and tribal medicine needs.

“As we train students in rural communities, we train them in tribal communities. We expect to see a larger percentage of them make the choice that that’s the community, those are the patients they want to serve throughout their career,” Bray said.

Some in the class are from tribal nations, but many have a passion to fill the shortage of doctors in that area.

“We have about 20%, 22% to be exact, are Native American students, but they’re not all Cherokee. We have representation from currently 11 different tribes,” Bray said. “We are thrilled to watch them go and meet the healthcare needs of their friends, their family, their communities and neighbors.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.