Wichita, Kan. – A new admissions partnership agreement between Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and Kansas Health Science Center – Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KHSC – KansasCOM) will help address Kansas’ physician shortage.

The agreement allows a select number of Fort Hays State University students to accelerate their career path with a 3+4 program. Qualified students who meet admission requirements will have the opportunity to begin their first year of medical school in their senior year of undergraduate studies at Fort Hays State University. After completing their first year at KHSC – KansasCOM, they will receive their bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State University, thereby completing both undergraduate work and a medical degree in seven years.

According to Dr. Grady Dixon, dean of the Peter Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics at Fort Hays State University, the partnership will serve as a tremendous new career option for FHSU’s top science students. “We have been working with KHSC – KansasCOM leaders on this partnership for the past several months, and I am very impressed with their new med school in downtown Wichita. Their faculty, staff, and facilities are all top-notch, and I am excited to see some of our students continue their medical education with them.”

KHSC – KansasCOM is the first private, nonprofit osteopathic medical school in Kansas. Partnerships like this support its mission to address the severe physician shortage across the state. This is the fifth partnership agreement KHSC – KansasCOM has signed in Kansas and the first with a public university. Other colleges with similar agreements include Kansas Wesleyan University, Southwestern College, Friends University, and Newman University.

“In more rural and underserved areas of our state, like Hays, we know that recruiting highly-qualified, Kansas-based students from the communities facing the greatest need for physicians is one of the best ways to train physicians who understand the unique perspective and value of rural communities,” said Tiffany Masson, Psy.D., president of KHSC – KansasCOM. She continued, “We are confident it will not only expediate the pace in which students can become physicians, but also increase our likelihood of retaining these physicians to go back and serve the community they call home.”

Students at Fort Hays State University who meet specific course requirements within their undergraduate program and admissions criteria at KHSC – KansasCOM will have the opportunity to transition to the college in pursuit of their medical degree beginning in the summer of 2024.

About KHSC – Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KHSC – KansasCOM)
KHSC – Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine welcomed its inaugural class in August 2022. Implementing a curriculum that is student-focused, patient-centered, and community-based, the mission of the nonprofit institution is to train osteopathic physicians to provide effective, empathetic, and innovative care to optimize the health of patients and their communities. Located in downtown Wichita, KHSC – KansasCOM is the first osteopathic medical school in the state of Kansas. Learn more at KansasCOM.org.