JONESBORO, Ark. — The New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University (NYITCOM at A-State) welcomed 121 incoming medical students to Northeast Arkansas on Saturday during its annual White Coat Ceremony at the Fowler Center in Jonesboro.
The incoming Class of 2030 is the 11th cohort to join NYITCOM's Arkansas campus. Students hail from 23 states, with 26 members of the class coming from Arkansas.
NYITCOM at A-State Dean Dr. Shane Speights addressed the students during the ceremony, underscoring their importance in tackling the state’s ongoing physician shortage and fulfilling the medical school’s commitment to community-focused medicine.
“As we navigate these changing and challenging times, particularly in the fields of health and medicine, the need for talented, forward-thinking and empathetic physicians is great,” Speights said. “That need is especially high in this region of the country. It is for that reason that the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine stepped forward ten years ago to help address that need. We have delivered on the promise of educating the next generation of physicians that can meet the demands of health care issues of today and tomorrow, specifically in Arkansas and needed areas in this region. At NYIT, we are more than a medical school; we are also training the next generation of physician leaders.”
The White Coat Ceremony marks the formal start of a medical student’s education. Students wear shorter white coats during their training and transition to longer coats upon becoming practicing physicians.
Dr. Steven Lewis, associate dean of academic affairs at NYITCOM at A-State, encouraged the new cohort to wear their coats with both pride and humility. “What patients will receive with your white coat is a wealth of knowledge, a confident skillset, and most of all, a compassionate human ready to take action to help improve their situation,” Lewis said. “To our medical students, I encourage you to wear your white coat with pride and as a reminder of the trust patients and society place in our profession.”
Among those donning their white coat was Carter Wilcox, a Little Rock native who was ceremonially coated by his father, Dr. William Wilcox, an internal medicine physician in Central Arkansas. Carter will be joined in Jonesboro by his girlfriend, Kara Hoover, who is set to join the inaugural class of the A-State College of Veterinary Medicine this fall.
“When we began applying to schools, we really hoped we’d be able to move together, and things just couldn’t have worked out better,” Carter Wilcox shared. “We both loved our programs and feel really blessed to get to start this journey in the same place.”
This year’s ceremony also saw the presentation of the Dr. Michael and Julie Isaacson Scholarship to two incoming students, Jaleel Balentine of Jonesboro and Olivia Manning of Monette. The scholarship was created in 2023 by Ritter Arnold, Paul Arnold, and Melissa Wren in honor of the Isaacsons’ decades of service to the Jonesboro community through medicine. Dr. Michael Isaacson was a cardiologist at NEA Baptist, and Julie Isaacson was a nurse and educator. The scholarship aims to support students from select Northeast Arkansas counties who express a strong interest in practicing medicine locally.