Editors Note: Each year, the Times Record newsroom staff votes on the Top 10 local stories of the year. Plans for an osteopathic medical school to open at Chaffee Crossing is the No. 1 story of 2014.

Believed by many to be a game changer for the region, the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine at Chaffee Crossing is expected to have a significant local economic impact and improve health care access to one of the most underserved regions in the country.

Officially announced in February, the school will graduate its first class of doctors in 2020, and about 80 percent of them are expected to set up shop in western Arkansas, according to Kyle Parker, CEO and president of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

In order to keep doctors here, there has been a huge emphasis on graduate medical education with hospitals across the region and the state, Parker said. If you dont do that, more than 50 percent of the doctors will leave. Were fortunate that the hospitals here want residents.

Two-year residencies will begin by 2018 at hospitals and clinics with Sparks Health System, Mercy Health, Cooper Clinic, and the Choctaw Nation to name a few. Third- and fourth-year medical students will have the opportunity to take residencies being arranged by the college as far as Lake Village and Dumas in southeast Arkansas, Baptist Medical and private practices.

With 150 medical students per class, and 100 college employees with doctorates and medical degrees, the estimated annual economic impact of the college is expected to be $100 million, Parker said. The cultural impact could be immeasurable.

Cream of the Crop

By mid-November, there were about 155,000 applicants for 6,100 slots at osteopathic medical colleges across the nation. About 70 percent of first-year medical students are age 21 to 30. They have an average GPA of 3.5 with an average MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) score of 27, Parker noted.

These will be the cream of the crop, Parker said of the college applicants. But if I get an applicant from Seattle who has the same scores as someone from Waldron, I want that one from Waldron because I know they will be more likely to stay in the area.

In fall 2016, the four-year, private medical college will have 150 students with slots for at least 75 physician assistant students to take part in a 28-month program. After four years, the school will support up to 600 students.

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No. 1: Osteopathic Medical College A Game Changer For Region