For the third year in a row, A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) has been ranked first in the country for the number of graduates now practicing in rural areas.
According to the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Medical Schools list released earlier this year, the medical school also ranked No. 5 in graduates practicing in primary care and No. 22 in graduates practicing in health professional shortage areas.
Dr. Margaret Wilson, the dean of the medical school, said she believes this success, in part, comes from the fact that many of their students are from the Midwest.
“We recruit heavily from the Midwest, so those applicants are often from small towns or rural areas,” Wilson said. “On average, over the last 10 years, about 50% of our matriculants come from small towns or rural areas. So, we tend to attract that.”
She added that because of the rural location of the college, its curriculum heavily focuses on working in rural and unserved areas.
“They do shadowing experiences with … rural primary care physicians, with the local nursing homes, so they get a flavor of that, and then in our third and fourth year curriculum … we have required rotations that focus on rural or underserved primary care,” Wilson said. “The more you can expose students to those environments and those kind of practice settings, I think that really encourages the interest in that.”
According to ATSU-KCOM, 23.5% of those graduates are practicing in rural areas, 44.6% in primary care, and 58.1% in health professional shortage areas.
Wilson said that osteopathic medicine – which has the same educational requirements as an MD, but philosophically focuses more on the wellbeing of the entire patient – lends itself to primary care and rural areas, as physicians can foster close connections with their community.
“You develop wonderful relationships with your patients. You're going to see them at the grocery store, or out in the community, at church, or wherever you are, and that community feel is really, really important,” Wilson said.
Wilson said ATSU-KCOM graduates an average of 170 physicians each year.
