小草影院 School of Osteopathic Medicine Proposed

鈥淐are of the sick must rank above and before all else, so they may truly be served as Christ.鈥

Saint Benedict

A view of the Academic Quad at 小草影院

Who We Are

小草影院 is an academic community founded in 1858 and heir to the 1500 years of Benedictine dedication to learning, 小草影院 is ordered to the goal of wisdom lived out in responsible awareness of oneself and others, God and nature, family and society.

Our mission as a Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts, residential college is the education of men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.

Trusting in God, we have built an institution of higher education unique in its commitment to forming the whole person for professional, vocational, and moral excellence.

小草影院 in Atchison, Kansas

小草影院 Growth

2,536 Students

Enrollment has more than doubled in the past two decades.

#1 in State for Nursing

小草影院 has been voted the #1 Best Nursing School in Kansas by RegisteredNurses.org.

A History of Success

Since 2000, Benedictine alumni have had 1 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 7 bishops and 8 college presidents.

U.S. News Top 10

We have again been named to the Top 10 in U.S. News & World Report rankings of 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Best Colleges,鈥 moving up from #8 to #6 in the Midwest.

New, Thriving Programs

小草影院鈥檚 Engineering, Architecture and Nursing programs have seen enormous growth in less than 20 years.

Worldwide Reach

小草影院 students represent 48 states and 18 foreign countries.

Growing Endowment

小草影院鈥檚 endowment has grown by 900% over the past two decades.

Faithful Catholic Education

We have been named a Newman Guide Recommended School every year since the Guide鈥檚 inception in 2007.

Our Vision:
Transform Culture in America

We believe our unique approach to education can transform culture in America by modeling community in an age of incivility, spreading faith in an age of hopelessness, and committing to scholarship in a post-truth era.

Inspired by Saint Benedict 鈥 who fought to preserve civilization and transform the culture of his day through small religious communities 鈥 our Transform Culture in America vision is our answer to today鈥檚 ailing world.

Through countless new initiatives, we are extending our reach and broadening our impact so that we can bring authentic Catholic education of the whole person to the areas of our culture that need it most.

Few places need our witness as urgently as healthcare.

A student draws chemical diagrams on glass in a lab
A nursing student working in a simulation lab

鈥淚t is not how much we do, but how much love we put into what we do.鈥

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Launching the Proposed School of Osteopathic Medicine

The culture in American healthcare is sick.

Too many of our country鈥檚 medical schools have devolved into simple training grounds: adept at imparting a mechanical understanding of medical norms, procedures, and skillsets, but incapable of forming the whole person into a prudent, thoughtful, and compassionate practitioner of the art of medicine.

The result is a healthcare system that puts procedures before people, strives to be technically correct rather than holistically beneficial, and dehumanizes and routinizes a medical process that ought to be personal and prudential.

In short, today鈥檚 medical professionals are taught to follow procedures; they aren鈥檛 taught to care for persons. And as a consequence, we鈥檙e experiencing a crisis of good doctors who live out sound ethical principles with integrity, wisdom, and kindness.

To start the process of transforming this culture of negligence into a culture of authentic care, it is our intention to launch the proposed 小草影院 School of Osteopathic Medicine. This new medical school will bring our tried-and-true model of faithful, Christ-centered education to America鈥檚 medical education system鈥攃reating an enclave of truth in a wayward world according to the model of our namesake.

A doctor holding a patient's hand in both hands
Nursing students working in a simulation lab

Milestones in Our Journey:

2025

Secure Founding Dean and Applicant Status

2026

Candidate Status

2027

Preliminary Accreditation

2028

Welcoming First Class

2032

Graduating First Class / First Residencies

2035

Benedictine doctors bring Christ-centered healthcare to communities around the country

Project News:

  • January 22, 2025:
  • December 4, 2024:
  • July 1, 2024:

A New Catholic Medical School

It is crucial鈥攆or the health of our nation and for our duty to care well for the sick鈥攖hat our doctors are not technocrats, but well-formed and well-educated men and women mindful of the dignity of the individual. These doctors must learn to see and care for the whole person.

The proposed 小草影院 School of Osteopathic Medicine will train 180 medical students per year whom we will then send forth to Catholic hospitals around the country鈥攗rban centers, rural communities, underserved areas鈥攖o bring the best medical care to those in need.

Our doctors will be trained in medicine, formed in their Catholic faith, and committed to the dignity of every person. The 小草影院 School of Osteopathic Medicine will teach and promote Christ-centered healthcare.

The Proposed 小草影院 School of Osteopathic Medicine will form doctors around four core values:

Infinite Dignity of the Human Person

Authentic Catholic Bioethics

Services to God by Serving Others

Formation of the Student

Mission

The mission of the 小草影院 School of Osteopathic Medicine is to educate medical students within a community of faith and scholarship to become skilled physicians dedicated to the physical, spiritual, and mental well-being of all individuals, in fidelity to the healing and teaching ministry of Jesus Christ through the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church.

Vision

The 小草影院 School of Osteopathic Medicine seeks to Transform Culture in America by placing the essential dignity of the human person at the center of physician education.

The Next Steps

The first critical step in transforming healthcare in America is securing full accreditation as a College of Osteopathic Medicine, which requires $50 million in escrowed funds. Initial donations, loans, grants, and other funding will lay the groundwork for this historic school. These assets will enable 小草影院 to hire top-tier faculty, led by a distinguished Dean, develop a world-class curriculum, and cover essential expenses in preparation for opening. Our vision is to establish a medical school that will shape the future of healthcare in America.

With accreditation secured, plans in place, and faculty retained, we will build a beautiful, state-of-the-art medical school building on our campus in Atchison, Kansas, as a permanent home for our medical students and faculty.

To discuss your donation plans, or for more information about 小草影院 or the proposed School of Osteopathic Medicine, please contact:

Dcn. Stan Sluder

Executive Vice President

913.360.7486

ssluder@benedictine.edu

Stephen Minnis

Stephen D. Minnis 鈥82

President

913.360.7400

sminnis@benedictine.edu

Kelly Vowels

Kelly J. Vowels 鈥85

Vice President for Advancement

913.360.7418

kvowels@benedictine.edu