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The Rural Health Scholars program was launched by Kansas City University in collaboration with Pittsburg State University, Missouri Southern State University, and eight community colleges in Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
The program is designed to fast-track students from rural, medically underserved counties in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas into careers as osteopathic physicians or dentists.
According to research by KCU — which has a medical and dental school campus in Joplin, Missouri, just 30 miles from Pittsburg — every county in a 100-mile radius from Joplin is considered a shortage area for dental and health professionals. All eight community colleges are located in such counties.
The innovative partnership will enable qualifying students to earn a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree in seven years — a year earlier than the traditional route. The goal is that these students return to their communities to practice.
“I think we're seeing something historic...Southeast Kansans need greater access to health care, which means we need more doctors and dentists. The Rural Health Scholars initiative connects Pitt State and KCU, two institutions with outstanding records of training health professionals, so that students can complete a high-quality education quickly and affordably,” said Chris Childers, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Pitt State.
As a result, more patients in more places will have access to high-quality, compassionate care.
Students will begin the program at a participating community college, where they will complete their first year of undergraduate coursework.
“By strategically extending our KCU pipeline out to these community colleges, we now have the opportunity to engage with these potential students further upstream when they’re in their early years of high school,” said Dr. Richard Schooler, vice president of KCU-Joplin.
Those who meet academic requirements will then transfer to Pitt State or MSSU for their second and third years. After their second year, qualified students will be invited to interview for early admission to KCU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine or College of Dental Medicine.
Students accepted into the program will complete their third year at Pitt State or MSSU before transitioning to KCU for four years of medical or dental school.
Participating community colleges include:
The program is unique: While several fast-track pathways to medical or dental school exist across the U.S., most follow a single-institution, single-state and medical-only model. KCU’s Rural Health Scholars program spans three states and multiple institutions, includes both medical and dental pathways, and offers conditional early acceptance.
Founded in 1916, Kansas City University is a fully accredited, private not-for-private health sciences university with Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Biosciences and Dental Medicine, and campuses in Kansas City and Joplin, Missouri.
