Nearly 20% of class are Native, including three Cherokee citizens
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation will graduate its inaugural class during a commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 16, in Tulsa. Three Cherokee citizens are among the first students to graduate from the inaugural class.
The inaugural class of the nation’s first tribally-affiliated medical school has a total of 46 graduating students. Nearly 20% of the students are Native American, including the three Cherokee citizens and six others being affiliated with the Choctaw, Seminole, or Chickasaw Nations.
“The inaugural graduating class of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at Cherokee Nation is a historic milestone for our tribe and for Native health care across the country,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. “We are immensely proud of these pioneering students, many of whom will soon become physicians serving tribal and rural communities. Their commitment to improving health outcomes in underserved areas is admirable, and we look forward to the impact they have on health and wellness of Native people.”
More than two-thirds of the graduates in the class will remain in Oklahoma to fulfill their residency.
“Congratulations to the first graduates of OSU-COM at Cherokee Nation. This accomplishment represents years of hard work and dedication from these students,” said Cherokee Nation Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner. “The representation of Indigenous students in this inaugural class underscores the importance of increasing Native representation in the medical field. We wish them success as they embark on their careers providing quality health care in places of need.”
The three Cherokee graduates include Charlee Dawson of Catoosa, Okla.; Dalton Sanders of Nowata, Okla.; and Connor West of Moore, Okla.
“Being a part of this class is very special for me,” said Dawson. “Getting to learn from the different Cherokee physicians and learn in the clinic with our tribe’s citizens as patients has been very special.”
Sanders plans to return to Tahlequah and work for the Cherokee Nation after he has completed his residency.
“It’s an incredible honor to be able to attend a medical school in my tribe’s capital,” said Sanders. “The Cherokee Nation provided for my family growing up, so it means a lot to give back to the community that helped us and to continue to serve them in the future as well.”
West was also inspired to attend medical school in Tahlequah due to his passion for serving tribal and rural communities.
“It’s meant a lot to me that I could be in my tribal lands and be connected. OSU just has a track record of serving rural Oklahomans, and that’s kind of what my passion is,” said West.
Approximately 35% of the graduating students matched to a rural or tribal residency in the United States, while 26% matched to a rural or tribal residency in Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Nation partnered with OSU Center for Health Sciences to establish OSU-COM at Cherokee Nation in 2020. The tribe invested $40 million to build the 87,000 square-foot facility next to the tribe’s W.W. Hastings Medical Center and near the Cherokee Nation Outpatient Health Center in Tahlequah, the capital city of the Cherokee Nation.
“I am so proud of each one of these students. Watching their growth and development of professional identity has been a deep honor,” said Dr. Natasha Bray, Dean of OSU-COM at Cherokee Nation. “This class has repeatedly demonstrated their resilience, their kindness, and their dedication to service. Thank you to our students for the joy of witnessing this extraordinary journey. The faculty and staff of the Cherokee Nation campus cannot wait to learn where your road leads you next.”
With Indigenous peoples making up just 0.2% of medical students nationwide, the Cherokee Nation and OSU medical school partnership is affording Cherokees and other Native Americans in northeast Oklahoma an attainable path to becoming primary care physicians.
OSU-COM at Cherokee Nation’s nine Native American graduates were recognized in an honoring ceremony on Tuesday at the Chota Center in Tahlequah, and the Cherokee Nation is also hosting the entire inaugural class for a community celebration at the Chota Center.
The commencement ceremony for the OSU-COM at Cherokee Nation inaugural class will take place on Thursday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. inside the Mabee Center in Tulsa. For those unable to attend, a live stream of the ceremony will be available via Inside OSU
