Jonesboro, AR – Contributed – In the early 2010s, a group of leaders from the education, healthcare and civic communities in Northeast Arkansas set out to help find a solution to the physician workforce shortage that was plaguing the state and region.  

As a result, the group worked together to create New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University (NYITCOM at A-State), which in 2016 became the first medical school to open in Arkansas in over 130 years.  

Thursday evening, many of those leaders, including founding dean Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, gathered at Embassy Suites in Jonesboro to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first osteopathic medical school and just the second medical school ever to operate in the Natural State.  

“Opening a medical school is not just a process to make licensure and receive accreditation,” Ross-Lee said. “It is dependent upon the people and organizations that involve themselves in the process, and we’re fortunate to have had a group of forward-thinking, determined individuals and groups that made this idea a reality.” 

Ross-Lee was the vice president of medical affairs at New York Institute of Technology, which is based on Long Island, when she was approached by a group from A-State in 2013 who were seeking a partner to help open a medical school on the Jonesboro campus.  

The pitch: Arkansas ranked near the bottom of all states in number of practicing physicians per capita, and at the time, there was only one medical school in the state producing medical doctors to help address an ever-growing issue.  

| ADD US ON GOOGLE NEWS: Click here to see more local news from Jonesboro Right Now

Ross-Lee was sold, and with the help of numerous clinical partners and the support of political leaders across the state, New York Institute of Technology and A-State formed a private-public partnership through which NYITCOM would rent space on the Jonesboro campus and open a medical school.  

It did so with a pointed mission of training physicians to practice in the underserved areas of Arkansas and the greater Mississippi Delta region. The school would especially emphasize “front-line” specialties, such as family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics, as those are the most needed in the region.  

During Thursday’s celebration, NYITCOM reported that of its graduates who have finished their residency training, more than half are practicing in Arkansas or a targeted Delta state, with more than 80 in Arkansas alone. Additionally, approximately 60% of its graduates have pursued one of the primary care specialties the school vowed to emphasize.  

“We are doing what we committed to do, and a healthier Arkansas is the beneficiary,” Ross-Lee said. 

Additional speakers at Thursday’s anniversary celebration included Dr. Jason Penry, a former A-State vice chancellor who helped facilitate the relationship between NYITCOM and A-State; Dr. Nicole Wadsworth, current dean of NYITCOM; Dr. Shane Speights, dean of NYITCOM’s Arkansas Campus; Dr. Landon Jackson, a member of NYITCOM at A-State’s inaugural class; and A-State Chancellor Dr. Todd Shields.   

“Tonight we are celebrating ten years of students coming to Jonesboro with a dream and leaving prepared to serve communities across Arkansas and beyond,” Shields said. “Ten years of building something that has changed lives, strengthened this university, and helped address one of the state’s most pressing needs.” 

Thursday’s anniversary event kicked off a weekend of celebration for NYITCOM at A-State. On Friday, Ross-Lee served as the keynote speaker for the medical school’s Class of 2026 commencement and hooding ceremony during which NYITCOM at A-State ushered its seventh class of physicians into the healthcare workforce.  

“We’re so thrilled to have an opportunity to combine the graduation of our latest class with a community celebration that brought together so many of the individuals and organizations that made this happen,” Speights said. “We know our work is just getting started, but it was incredibly rewarding to celebrate the significance of what we have collectively accomplished over the last decade.” 

| DAILY BRIEF: Sign up for the Jonesboro Right Now Daily Brief Newsletter

| DAILY BRIEF: Sign up for the Jonesboro Right Now Daily Brief Newsletter