Caitlin Cosby’s path to becoming a doctor began during an anatomy course in college. Her professor recognized her love for science and encouraged her to pursue medicine as a career.
Ultimately, she found a medical school that seemed like a perfect fit: a brand new college of osteopathic medicine next to the Cherokee Nation Hospital in Tahlequah.
Oklahoma State University partnered with the tribe to open the school, with the goal of training a new generation of physicians who would care for indigenous peoples and other underserved communities in rural Oklahoma. The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Cherokee Nation is the first tribally affiliated medical school in the United States.
As a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, Cosby believed the school would give her a unique opportunity to learn alongside other Native students and physicians. Less than 1% of physicians nationwide are Native American.
“I really wanted to be part of changing those numbers and becoming an Indigenous physician who could graduate from the only Indigenous-affiliated medical school,” Cosby said.
More: Another large school district will offer students free breakfast and lunch next year
She achieved that goal Thursday, graduating along with 45 other students in the school’s first class. The graduates included nine indigenous students. Cosby plans to practice in tribal communities, starting with a family medicine residency at a hospital in Durant, where the Choctaw Nation is located.
“It’s just really important to show patients that you have someone caring for you who understands where you come from and what you’re going through,” Cosby said.
OSU, Cherokee leaders look to medical school to help end Oklahoma’s doctor shortage
In a state facing a doctor shortage and high rates of cancer and diabetes, OSU officials and Cherokee leaders hope the school and its graduates can turn the tide.
Two-thirds of the school’s first graduates plan to complete their residencies in Oklahoma, and 35% have residencies in rural areas. A handful of graduates stay in tribal hospitals or clinics.
“What worked against us over the decades was the statistic that said a doctor or a medical student will practice within a driving distance of where she received her medical training,” said Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. . “That statistic is still true. But now we count on it instead of working under it.”
Discussions about launching the medical school began more than a decade ago between university officials and then-Chief Bill John Baker. In those discussions, they found a shared vision of increasing access to health care in rural parts of the state, where many tribal citizens live, said Dr. Kayse Shrum, the president of the state of Oklahoma. She was involved in the conversations while leading the OSU Center for Health Sciences, which she led for eight years before becoming president of the university in 2021.
Shrum was especially impressed when Baker told her that Cherokee culture focuses on taking steps that will have a positive impact for the next seven generations.
“As you go through your life, you think about how many opportunities you have to work on something that has such a big impact, not just on health care, but on the trajectories of families,” Shrum said. “That was important for everyone involved.”
OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in the Cherokee Nation opened during a health crisis: COVID
The school opened in August 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the initial courses were delivered via video conference. Instructors were required to design personal labs with enough space to allow for social distancing. Students went along with all the changes, said Dr. Janel Johnson, assistant professor of medical education at the school. Johnson, a Cherokee citizen, teaches core courses to freshmen and sophomores and also works with upperclassmen during their rotations at a university clinic.
After COVID vaccines became available, students were able to sign up to give shots at a Cherokee Nation outpatient clinic, Johnson said. “Those spots filled so quickly,” she said. “They loved being there and doing what they could during this time.”
More: The Oklahoma governor’s task force on tribal reservation security is almost complete. This is next
Students can learn more about Cherokee culture at events hosted at the school, such as sessions to learn the basics of beading and moccasin making. These kinds of opportunities for students and faculty to come together, talk and create don’t happen on most medical school campuses, Johnson said.
The school had a total of 202 students this year, the fourth in operation. Twenty-two percent were indigenous, collectively representing eleven tribal nations.
For Cosby, it was important to learn alongside other Native students from similar backgrounds. She also enjoyed learning directly from Native physicians and living in Tahlequah, where the Cherokee Nation is located.
“I think it’s really special to be able to work with that culture all the time in medical school,” she said, “as opposed to seeing a patient every now and then on other rotations.”
Hoskin said the school’s impact will be measured not only by the doctors the school trains, but also by the messages the school sends to Cherokee communities about what Cherokee children can be.
“You know the old saying, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see,’” Hoskin said. “Well, they can see this in a real way, and that makes me very optimistic about the future.”
Molly Young covers Indigenous issues. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU med school in Cherokee Nation celebrates first class of graduates
