Baptist Health’s inaugural class begins clinical rotations

The cohort is distributed across eight regional facilities, with the largest group of 22 students stationed at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis. Other placements include 19 students at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center and nine each at Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center and Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto. Smaller groups are currently serving at facilities in North Mississippi, Union County, Golden Triangle, and NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital.

University president Hampton Hopkins noted that the entire inaugural class, which began in 2024, has successfully transitioned to this advanced phase of their education. The training initiative aims to address a projected national deficit of nearly 70,000 primary care physicians by 2036. By embedding students directly into the Baptist Memorial Health Care network, the university hopes to encourage them to establish long-term practices within the region. As Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, these students follow a path identical to their MD counterparts, requiring four years of medical school followed by residency and fellowship training.