NYITCOM signs partnerships with the University of Guam, Guam Memorial Hospital

New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) has signed partnership agreements that will allow its students training opportunities that will enhance their ability to care for some of the most medically-underserved populations in Arkansas.

Earlier this month, NYITCOM signed affiliation agreements with the University of Guam as well as Guam Memorial Hospital and Guam Regional Medical Center that will allow the Arkansas-based medical school to recruit medical students and train student doctors – both from the continental U.S. and from Guam – on the U.S. territory island.

“NYITCOM has a long history of working with medically-underserved communities to help address issues regarding access to healthcare and health education,” said Dr. Shane Speights, dean of NYITCOM’s Arkansas campus. “We’re fortunate through these partnerships to come alongside the university and the hospitals to support their efforts and initiate change that truly will make a generational impact.”

NYITCOM’s new relationship with the University of Guam is intended to increase the number of island residents who pursue medicine. This partnership creates a bi-directional benefit in meeting the physician shortages in both Guam and the Mississippi Delta region.

While many of those from Guam will return home to practice, Speights expects some will remain in Arkansas at the conclusion of their medical education. Additionally, NYITCOM’s students who are from the continental U.S. will gain invaluable training in Guam that will help them better serve specific groups in Arkansas with similar backgrounds, many of whom have significant health disparities.

Speights noted that Arkansas is home to a growing number of Pacific Islander populations, including individuals from the Marshall Islands and other parts of Micronesia.

“The goal of this endeavor is two-fold,” Speights said. “The first being that we want to support an important U.S. territory in the training and retention of a sustainable physician workforce, something we have successfully done here. The second part is that understanding the cultural context of the patients you’re serving is key to providing quality care, and these partnerships give our medical students invaluable opportunities to gain that perspective.”

NYITCOM, which is based on Long Island, N.Y., operates medical schools in New York and in Jonesboro. The Guam partnerships will operate through the Arkansas campus, which opened in 2016 with a pointed mission of training physicians to practice in medically-underserved parts of Arkansas and the Greater Mississippi Delta region.

While Guam’s population is growing and its economy is flourishing, there are currently no medical schools on the island. Guamanians who are interested in pursuing medicine are forced to leave the island for upwards of 10 years – four years for medical school and three to six for residency training.

“Guam faces a critical shortage of health care professionals, and this partnership is part of the solution,” University of Guam President Anita Borja Enriquez said in a statement. “By creating a clear pathway to medical school, we support our mission to provide public value—developing local talent and strengthening the healthcare workforce for our island and region.”