In 2020, GNN reported that the inaugural class of the nation’s first medical college on a Native American reservation had begun their studies. Well now, they’ve just graduated.
The 46 graduating students from Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation include fifteen members of tribes all around the country, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Alaska Native, Caddo, and Osage.
Dr. Natasha Bray, the school’s dean, said that the college was formed to address a shortage of tribal physicians in the US, as just 0.3% of all licensed medical practitioners are Native American.
Part of what makes the college observing its first graduates so exciting is that the $40 million it cost to build and staff the facilities was paid for entirely by the Cherokee nation, who designed it to be a culturally relevant building, with the Hippocratic oath written on the walls in both Cherokee and English.
Cherokee artwork decorates the walls, and a medicinal plant garden is located on the site.
“I couldn’t even have dreamed this up,” said 26-year-old Choctaw member and now OSU graduate, Mackenzee Thompson. “To be able to serve my people and learn more about my culture is so exciting. I have learned so much already.”
According to PBS News, osteopathic doctors, or DOs, have the same qualifications and training as allopathic doctors, or MDs, but the two types of doctors attend different schools.
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While MDs learn from traditional programs, the focus of DOs will be more on holistic medicine, and they are typically found in primary care facilities in rural areas. Native elders participate in the medical curriculum to teach about traditional healing practices.
“It’s our mission to be as culturally competent as we can,” Thompson told NPR. “Learning this is making me not only a better doctor but helping patients trust me more,” she said, adding that now she’s more likely to ask about a patient’s diet or if they are open to trying holistic remedies.
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In the days leading up to the European, cap and gown style graduation, the graduates were honored with a ceremony conducted by the chiefs of 5 different native tribes, in which the graduates were given gifts, including a beaded stethoscope.
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