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Wilson Hall Rededicated

A rededication of historic Wilson Hall at Arkansas State University was a celebration of how a new osteopathic medical school will help serve the needs of those who are underserved in the Delta.  115 students have been accepted into the Class of 2020, 45 of those are from Arkansas.  There are 150 on a waiting list.  Over a ten-year period, more than 1,000 physicians are expected to be produced in Arkansas.  The public-private partnership is between the New York Institute of Technology and Arkansas State University…and Wilson Hall is the new NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine at A-State.  Chancellor Dr. Tim Hudson addressed a crowd during a luncheon at Centennial Hall.

“We know we picked the right partners because we have similar principles,” said Hudson.  “We also have a single purpose, which is to serve the people in our area.”

ASU System President Dr. Charles Welch said he was excited and thought of the day as being transformative.  He said it is not just in that a building was transformed, but also in that lives will be transformed. 

NYIT President Dr. Edward Giuliano says that there are between four and five thousand recognized colleges and universities in the nation, but there are only about 150 medical schools in the nation.  He tells about the impact the partnership will have.

“We know that this will lead to many more opportunities for both institutions to work together to train medical students to improve the medical care of the people in the region.”

Just for clarification, those who go into osteopathic medicine are those who are looking at more holistic approaches to treating people.  Physicians are more likely to try to practice more preventative medicine than trying to treat symptoms after they have occurred.  Dean of the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine at A-State is Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee.

“We tell students and residents that the practice of medicine is an awesome responsibility, but we are also charged with teaching students how medicine will be practiced over the next seven to ten years.”       

Congressman Rick Crawford praised the partnership for helping those in the eastern part of the state that live in a so-called “health desert”. Governor Asa Hutchinson says the new school and the recent passage of Arkansas Works will help reach those who are uninsured in Arkansas. 

The first class will start August 8th

Johnathan Reaves is the News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.