The inaugural class of the nation's first Native American-affiliated medical school graduated May 16.
In 2018, Stillwater-based Oklahoma State University and the Cherokee Nation partnered to create a medical school in Tahlequah, Okla. The College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, which is on the tribe's land, enrolled its first class in 2020. Four years later, 46 students are graduating with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree.
Twenty percent of the graduating class is Native American, according to a LinkedIn post from the university's president, Johnny Stephens, PharmD. Data shows that, across all U.S. medical schools, less than 10% have more than four Native American students.