A.T. Still University

In 1892 in Kirksville, Missouri, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still founded the first osteopathic medical school in the world.[8][7] Originally known as the American School of Osteopathy (ASO), the inaugural class of 21 students graduated in 1894.[9] In 1892 Still hired William Smith, a formally trained Scottish physician, to serve as the first anatomy professor of the school.[10] Several other early osteopathic schools eventually merged with Still's school including the Atlantic School of Osteopathy (1898-1905), which had been based in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and then Buffalo, New York.[11][12]

In 1908, the school established a nursing program.[13] In 1922, the school was renamed the "A.T. Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery." Two years later, in 1924, ASO merged with another osteopathic medical school (Andrew Taylor Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery), becoming the Kirksville Osteopathic College.[14] In 1925, the school was renamed the Kirksville College of Osteopathy and Surgery.[13] In 1949, the first rural clinic was established in Gibbs, Missouri.[14] As of 1960, the rural clinics program operated 10 clinics and served 43,000 patients.[14] In 1960, the Rockefeller family donated resources to build the Timken-Burnett Research building.[14] In 1971, the school was again renamed to the "Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine."[13] In 1999, the College of Graduate Health Sciences opened (ATSU-CGHS). In 2001, the schools were organized under the new name AT Still University.[13] In 2013, a dental school opened at the Kirksville campus (ATSU-MOSDOH).[13]

In 1995, the university established the Arizona School of Health Sciences. In 2000, a second ATSU campus opened in Mesa, which became the primary Arizona campus for ATSU. In 2003, the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health opened and began accepting students. In 2006, the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) opened and began accepting students the following year. In 2014, the Center of Advanced Oral Health opened at the Mesa campus. It provides dentistry for those with advanced oral health needs, and developed in response to the complex needs of patients in underserved communities.[15]

In September 2021, the university initiated the Central Coast Physician Assistant program in Santa Maria, California, matriculating 90 students in the inaugural class.[16] In January 2022, the Higher Learning Commission approved ATSU's third campus, the College for Health Communities, in Santa Maria, California.[17]

ATSU's main campus is located on 150 acres in Kirksville, Missouri. Kirksville's population is more than 17,000 and is approximately 180 miles to Kansas City and 214 miles to St. Louis. The campus houses the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, and includes a human patient simulation lab, study rooms for standardized patient encounters, classrooms, and labs. It also houses the Gutensohn Clinic, the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine, the A.T. Still Memorial Library, the Northeast Missouri Area Health Education Center, and the A.T. Still Research Institute.[19]

The university runs the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine at its Kirksville campus.[20] The museum was founded in 1934[20] and holds more than 80,000 artifacts, documents, and books relating to osteopathic medicine.[21]

A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, located in the city of Mesa, was established in the 1990s and is located on a 59-acre campus approximately 25 miles from Phoenix. The School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) is housed at the Mesa campus, which includes a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) building on the 22-acre (8.9 ha) campus of ATSU in Mesa, Ariz. The campus is the anchor of the Arizona Health and Technology Park, a 132-acre (53.4 ha) education, healthcare, and technology triangle owned by ATSU and Vanguard Health Systems. Long terms for the new park include hospitals, long-term care facilities, professional offices, and product development research facilities.[22]

The university's Santa Maria campus is a 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) facility intended to support pre-clinical education. It includes clinical simulation rooms, a library, a student lounge, and a recreation area.[23]

SOMA educates osteopathic medicine students under a relatively new medical educational model, which links osteopathic training to community health centers in the U.S.[33] A partnership exists between ATSU and the National Association of Community Health Centers.[34] The ATSU-ASDOH implemented a model integrating state of the art training with patient care needs in community health centers (CHCs). ATSU-SOMA works in partnership with eleven sites to integrate medical education with preparation for the most complex healthcare careers.[35] A hometown program exists to offer an opportunity for medical students previously connected to CHCs to gain admission.[36]