Three new medical schools are coming to Texas and Oklahoma — one of which will be formed through a first-of-its-kind partnership.
Here are five things to know:
1. Stillwater-based Oklahoma State University and the Cherokee Nation entered into a unique partnership to create a medical school in Tahlequah, Okla., by 2020, according to the Tulsa World.
2. Officials, who will formally announce plans for the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation next week, said all students will be eligible to apply for admission. Students will take classes at the Tahlequah-based Cherokee Nation W. W. Hastings Hospital campus.
3. Plans for the partnership and medical school have been in the works since early 2017, according to the Tulsa World.
4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved the opening of two new medical schools in Texas on Oct. 25, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald. The two medical schools will be operated independently by the University of Houston and the Fort Worth-based University of North Texas Health Science Center.
5. Texas currently maintains roughly a dozen medical schools, with nearly half located in the Houston area, the Waco Tribune-Herald reports.