By Alex Golden Times Record agolden@swtimes.com

Fort Smiths new medical school opened to its inaugural class Monday with a main mission in mind serving the medically under-served.

Hollywood does not need more plastic surgeons. Real America needs caring, compassionate physicians who believe that their call in their life is to serve, said John Taylor, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

The Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine at Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith is the first installment of ACHE. The College of Health Sciences is expected to open in 2020.

This is a historic event. Youre the first class that took a chance to come to a brand new medical school, President and CEO Kyle Parker said Monday morning.

As the students sat in one of the schools lecture halls just before 9 a.m., the room got quiet when a presentation appeared on the screen in front of them. Shortly after the words, Please take your seat, a 60-second countdown and the song, Celebration played, soliciting a round of clapping and then cheers when countdown hit zero, officially kicking off the first day of medical school.

The real celebration begins in your heart today in this lecture hall, Provost and Dean Ray Stowers said to the 162 students.

About 3,860 students applied, Parker said.

For student Samantha Skinner, who is from Alabama and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 2015, the community support for the school struck her.

"I felt like Fort Smith the entire town was really behind the school," Skinner said.

Skinner lives at the medical school's student apartments, The Residents.

"Super convenient," she said. "I walked here this morning."

Skinner lived in Guatemala for 10 years while her mother was in medical missions. She is now ready to serve the under-served, she said.

Student John Young did not initially take the medical route he was a lawyer for 10 years. He then went to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith to take the science prerequisites he needed to get into medical school.

"I was looking for a change," he said.

Student Bryce Hendrix is from Kansas. Hendrix, a former firefighter and paramedic, described his route to medical school as a winding path.

"I've always been centered on helping people ever since I got out of high school," he said. "The more I learned about medicine, the more I found that niche. I loved learning about it and loved helping people."

Hendrix was impressed with the faculty and the state-of-the-art facilities, he said.

"Of all the places I've seen and interviewed, it was easily the best," he said.

Student Sajan Sarker was raised in Dallas and went to the University of Texas at Austin. He was working at UAMS in Little Rock when he met ARCOM's director of admissions at an event and learned about the school.

Sarker took care of his late father when he was sick.

"I think just taking care of him over that period of time I just got immersed in the medical field. That really grew my passion," he said.

Student Roshni Patel is from Hot Springs and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

"I came here, and I absolutely fell in love with it," she said. "I had never been treated so well ever in my life before I came to this school. Everyone was so nice to me all the staff and faculty they were literally waiting outside for me in 19-degree weather for my interview day to welcome with me in."

Patel also said the brightness and atmosphere of the building itself was a factor.

"It was very obvious this was the place to be," she said.

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Medical school welcomes first class at Chaffee Crossing - Times Record