Winfield, Kan. – Southwestern College and Kansas Health Science Center-Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KHSC-KansasCOM) have announced an admissions partnership agreement, with the goal of addressing Kansas’ physician shortage.
The agreement will allow a select number of Southwestern students to accelerate their career path with a 3+4 program. Qualified students who meet KHSC-KansasCOM admission requirements will have the opportunity to begin their first year of medical school in their senior year of undergraduate studies at Southwestern. After completing their first year at KHSC-KansasCOM, they will receive their bachelor’s degree from Southwestern, thereby completing both undergraduate work and a medical degree in seven years.
Southwestern has a long tradition of producing graduates who excel in the natural sciences. The college offers focused pre-professional pathways, including premedical, that boast an outsized placement rate of students in medical schools.
“The partnership between Southwestern and KHSC-KansasCOM creates an excellent opportunity for our students and it deepens their connection to south-central Kansas – where many regional communities are in need of service-minded physicians,” said Liz Frombgen, Southwestern president.
KansasCOM is the first private, nonprofit osteopathic medical school in Kansas. Partnerships like this support KHSC-KansasCOM’s mission to address the severe physician shortage across the state.
“Ninety-two of the 105 counties in Kansas are considered partially or wholly underserved. This partnership with Southwestern will allow us to help reverse this trend by getting well-qualified, Kansas-based students into the workforce at an expedited pace. It’s a win-win for our students and the health of all Kansans,” said Tiffany Masson, Psy.D., president of KHSC-KansasCOM.
Well-qualified students at Southwestern who meet admissions criteria will have the opportunity to transition to KHSC-KansasCOM in pursuit of their medical degree beginning in the summer of 2024.