Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine-Mercy Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a faith-based, community teaching hospital program in Fort Smith, Arkansas, co-sponsored with Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, training eight family medicine residents per year within Mercy's large multi-state Catholic health ministry. The program is explicitly mission-driven, framing its purpose around Mercy's core commitment to the economically poor and medically underserved, and structures training through a "Clinic First" model that progressively builds outpatient continuity practice alongside inpatient exposure in a co-located, faculty-adjacent clinic facility. There is no stated research infrastructure or fellowship pipeline; the emphasis is on producing broadly competent, community-grounded family physicians who serve regional and underserved populations rather than subspecialize. The program values physicians drawn to whole-person, socially-conscious primary care within a faith-affiliated system that explicitly measures itself on charity care and community benefit rather than academic output.