News Byte: Two NYITCOM-Arkansas Students Are First Recipients of New Scholarship

Pictured from left: NYITCOM-Arkansas site dean Shane Speights, D.O., joins Ritter Arnold, Michael and Julie Isaacson, Student Doctor Katie Head, NYITCOM Dean Nicole Wadsworth, D.O., Student Doctor Andrew Sullivan, and New York Tech Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Balentine, D.O., for the presentation of the Dr. Michael and Julie Isaacson Scholarship.

Student Doctors Katie Head of Paragould, Ark., and Andrew Sullivan of Jonesboro, Ark., are the first two recipients of the Dr. Michael and Julie Isaacson Scholarship. Ritter Arnold, along with his brother Paul Arnold and sister Melissa Wrenn, established the new scholarship to assist students at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University (NYITCOM-Arkansas) with their medical education.

The scholarship will be funded by the Mary Ann and Sidney Arnold Foundation and will cover a portion of tuition for students from select Arkansas Delta counties who have expressed interest in remaining in the area to practice medicine once they complete their training. 

Arnold chose to name the scholarship after his dear friends Michael and Julie Isaacson in honor of their commitment to serving Northeast Arkansas through medicine. Michael Isaacson, M.D., a cardiologist with NEA Baptist Health System, has practiced in the Jonesboro area for nearly 40 years and has cared for numerous members of the Arnold family. Julie Isaacson is a registered nurse who spent four decades practicing the profession while training aspiring healthcare workers at the collegiate level.

“We are incredibly grateful to Ritter and his family for their extremely generous gift that will make a significant impact on physicians from our area who wish to practice here,” says Shane Speights, D.O., NYITCOM-Arkansas site dean. “We can’t thank him enough for the numerous ways he has supported our medical school since day one, and this gift is a testament to his commitment to improving access to healthcare in a region that so desperately needs it.”

Arnold has been a member of the NYITCOM dean’s advisory board since its inception in 2017 and has been an ardent supporter of NYITCOM and its mission.

“I’m extremely passionate about finding ways to address some of the most pressing needs in our Delta communities, and healthcare workforce is certainly among those,” Arnold says. “I hope the students who benefit from this scholarship are inspired to practice medicine and serve their communities in a manner that models Dr. and Mrs. Isaacson.” 

Head and Sullivan were recognized at NYITCOM-Arkansas’ annual White Coat Ceremony on August 11 at the Fowler Center on the Arkansas State University campus.