OSU-CHS, Great Salt Plains Health launch new family medicine residency program in Enid

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Senior Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

In July, Great Salt Plains Health in Enid, Oklahoma, welcomed four residents as part of the new Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences/Osteopathic Medical Education Consortium of Oklahoma (OMECO) family medicine residency program.

Dr. Tim Newton, the residency program director at Great Salt Plains Health, said this is the first time since 2017 there’s been a family medicine residency program in Enid.

“With little to no residency programs in northwest Oklahoma, the medical care has suffered, and the medical community has suffered,” Newton said. “We know when you train people in rural communities, they are more likely to stay and practice medicine in rural communities. OSU has taken this to heart.”

The three-year family medicine residency program will add four more residents each year for the next two years, growing to 12 residency spots total. 

Currently, the residents are working primarily out of the Great Salt Plains Enid East clinic, but there are opportunities to also complete some subspeciality rotations in Tulsa at OSU Medical Center and Saint Francis Health System.

OSU-CHS President Johnny Stephens said the new residency program in Enid is a significant step forward in the institution’s ongoing commitment to addressing the health care needs of rural Oklahoma. 

"This residency program not only aligns with our mission to train physicians who are dedicated to serving underserved communities, but it also ensures that rural areas have access to highly trained, compassionate health care providers,” Dr. Stephens said. “At OSU-CHS, we believe in the power of community to transform health care, and this program is another vital part of our efforts to make a lasting impact on the health and well-being of Oklahomans across the state."

OSU-CHS and OMECO received start-up funding from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) for the family medicine residency program. 

TSET Executive Director Julie Bisbee said access to primary care is a cornerstone of healthy communities, and residency programs like the one in Enid are a vital step toward strengthening Oklahoma’s rural health care infrastructure.

“TSET is proud to have supported the launch of the OSU/OMECO family medicine residency program in Enid as part of our commitment to growing the pipeline of physicians who choose to serve rural Oklahoma,” Bisbee said. “Investments like this help ensure families can get the care they need close to home.”

Newton grew up in Cherokee, a town about an hour northwest of Enid. After graduating from OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, he completed his residency in the southeast Oklahoma town of Durant. 

He said there are advantages to practicing medicine in a smaller, rural community.

“One of the biggest benefits is the scope of practice. The treatment and care I give my patients here is more expansive. If I were in Tulsa or Oklahoma City, I would just refer them to a specialist,” he said. “You certainly don’t get that out in northwest Oklahoma. A lot of times I’m the one coordinating care, doing a lot of procedures, making a lot of decisions, and that, for me, is really rewarding.”

And Newton said there was another aspect of being a rural physician that surprised him.

“I’m more of an introverted person, but I really do enjoy interacting with my patients out in the community, and they see me all the time,” he said. “I go pick up my kids at school and there’s a dozen more kids that say ‘That’s my doctor’ and they come and give me a hug. I never anticipated that, but it’s been really rewarding.”