By: Carson Hamilton

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (UATV) — The Alice Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) is now open in Bentonville. This innovative facility, staff, and institution will bring in a new wave of medicine for students. Promising the first five graduating classes free tuition, this school is centered at the heart of Northwest Arkansas, and will bring the mission of “whole-person” learning approach to its campus.

While it stands out for its notable founder, AWSOM focuses on enhancing their nonprofit’s four-year M.D. program through art, humanities, and whole health principles. The mission is to center learning by embracing self-care for students and that of their patients.

The inaugural class began in July of this year, and the school has been granted a preliminary accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The coursework will be devoted to transforming the health of medically underserved individuals in the rural communities of Arkansas. These students will launch contemporary technologies to build high quality medical care for individuals within the community and beyond.

Alice Walton founded the School of Medicine in 2021 and now that it is finally complete, students are not the only people on campus. Opening for educational purposes in July, the grand opening of AWSOM has commenced for the public as of November 2025. The purpose of AWSOM is rooted in Walton’s own experience with healthcare and the need for recognition in physical, behavioral, spiritual, and socioeconomic well-being.

By instilling preventative medicine into the learning environment, the use of arts and humanities hopes to remove traditional medical education with a more modern approach. 48 students are currently enrolled in the first inaugural class at AWSOM, and the school hopes to grow the class rate after the first four cohorts. The first class graduates in 2029 with approximately one third of the class being Arkansas residents. To apply to this accredited institution, students must earn a minimum of 500 on their MCAT with six other mandatory credit requirements. The next round of admissions information is Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026.