A first of its kind medical school located in the Cherokee Nation recently graduated its inaugural class.

Our Oklahoma communities correspondent, Adam Kemp, shares how the program was started and why the need for these

doctors is so great. A ceremony celebrating a historic first. In the days

leading up to graduation, representatives from five different Native American tribes in Oklahoma honored its newest generation of doctors.

It matters to you whether we've got graduates like the ones we're celebrating today and if you're

a Native American or if you're a tribal leader, if you're a tribal citizen, it's a particular

importance to you.

The students are part of Oklahoma State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, the first ever physician training program on a Native American reservation.

The curriculum offers students first-hand experience serving native communities and understanding their specific health care needs.

Once I actually got to see and work with patients from my tribe, I really just fell in love with it. These last few years being at a native

medical school, the first in the country, it's been amazing. Graduate Caitlin Cosby is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation.

She is among the one-fifth of Native American students that make up the inaugural class.

The Cherokee Nation campus was a really big deal for me. I've always wanted to be able to serve my people

ever since I was able to actually live in the area where a lot of you know the culture is.

For Mackenzie Thompson, another graduate and member of the Choctaw Nation, the program not only provided a medical education, but also brought her closer to her own heritage.

And I wasn't really raised traditionally Choctaw.

Some of those traditions were kind of lost in my family lineage.

And so coming here, I've been able to connect with other Choctaw students and learn about our heritage,

but then also just learn so much about the Cherokee Nation and their culture. OSU partnered with the Cherokee Nation to open the school in 2020 to help erase the shortage

of indigenous doctors nationwide who, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges make up only 0.3% of physicians.

People want to see someone that looks like them and is from their culture and to me that's really important for representation.

Students also specialize in treating rural communities,

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