A-State, NYITCOM Name First Freshman-to-Physician Cohort in Arkansas

JONESBORO – April 24, 2026 – Arkansas State University (ASU) and New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) have selected the first cohort for a new program the smooth the path for entering freshmen to eventually become doctors.

A-State and NYITCOM announced that six students were selection on Monday (April 20) to be a part of the newly established Freshman to Physician (F2P) pathway for students to secure early admission to medical school in the first year of college.   

“We are focused on getting more students from Arkansas into medical school,” said Dr. Shane Speights, dean at NYITCOM at A-State. “To that, we want to remove some of the challenges of getting in while also ensuring that those students who matriculate are prepared for the rigor of our curriculum. This program does both.” 
 

The first cohort of six students includes Thomas McMellon of Jonesboro, Haydyn Friend of Salem, Blaine Bryant of Jonesboro, Lynnlee Presley of Heber Springs, Andrea Pillow of Paragould, and Ty Duncan of Marion. To be part of this cohort, students applied last fall to be part of the F2P program.  
 
“As one of the largest undergraduate cohorts in the (ASU) Beck College of Sciences and Mathematics, premedical students benefit greatly from the F2P program,” said Dr. Jennifer Bouldin, dean of the Beck College. “Beginning in their freshman year, students gain early access to NYITCOM on the A-State campus while building meaningful connections with faculty and peers.” 
 
Program targets physician shortage in Arkansas and the Delta region; next cohort to be chosen in spring 2027

Students selected for this cohort must have a combined SAT score of at least 1100 or an ACT composite score of at least 26, a high school grade point average in the top 10% of their class, and have a successful interview with the admissions committee for the program.  Students must also be Arkansas residents to qualify. 

“At Arkansas State, we are intentional about creating an environment where aspiration is matched with access and where possibility is transformed into achievement,” said Dr. Calvin White Jr., A-State’s provost and executive vice chancellor. “From the moment students step onto our campus, they are immersed in opportunities that distinguish us as a destination university.”

“Whether through direct pathways to medical or veterinary school, access to high-impact research, or collaboration with faculty who are deeply invested in their success, our students are positioned to move with purpose and to realize goals that once may have seemed beyond reach,” he added.

As noted, students must also be Arkansas residents to qualify for the pathway. Students who complete the Freshman to Physician pathway and meet all the required prerequisites are eligible for direct admission into NYITCOM.  

“We get students from all over the country,” said Speights. “With so much variety in undergraduate education, we are forced to use the MCAT as a national benchmark. This pathway program ensures that we are getting a student who is ready for medical school. In this case, there is no need for a MCAT so we don’t require it of students in this program.”

NYITCOM’s opened on the A-State campus in Jonesboro in 2016 through a private/public partnership between the state’s second-largest second-largest university in terms of student enrollment, behind University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.

Based in Old Westbury, New York, NYITCOM operates the state’s newest medical school in Wilson Hall on the campus of A-State’s flagship university in Jonesboro. It was founded with a pointed focus of training physicians to address the growing shortage in Arkansas and the greater Mississippi Delta region and to provide health education programs for a region where health outcomes are among the poorest in the nation.

“Together, A-State and NYITCOM will shape the next generation of physicians committed to serving communities throughout Arkansas,” Bouldin added. 

The next cohort of the Freshman to Physician program will be selected in spring 2027. 

ASU still on the hunt for new system president

The ASU System includes flagship university in Jonesboro and its affiliated Campus Queretaro in Mexico, and four-year research institution, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. There are also five independently accredited and functionally separate two-year institutions that carry the ASU brand.

Altogether, the ASU System serves nearly 39,000 students annually, including more than 17,000 at sprawling A-State in Jonesboro. The system employs 3,725 faculty and staff and has a total operating budget of $314.4 million for fiscal Year 2026. 

The ASU board of trustees, based in Little Rock, is currently seeking nominations and applications for its next president. In December, Brendan Kelly announced that he was resigning after only 15 months on the job to take over the same role at his alma mater, Eastern Michigan University. Kelly, who took over the role in September 2024 was only third president in ASU’s history.

Currently, Dr. Robin Myers, the retired ASU-Mountain Home chancellor who served as interim system president in 2024 before Kelly’s hiring, has been serving again in that role since December. In March, the ASU board of trustees authorized the Board Chair Bishop Robert G. Rudolph Jr. to appoint a task force to work on a strategic plan and define the role, scope and work of the ASU System. At that same meeting, Rudolph said the trust­ees hopes to have a new sys­tem pres­id­ent in place by the start of the 2026-27 school year.