21-07-2025
New Bentonville medical school welcomes first students
The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine's inaugural class of 48 students began medical school this month in a new building designed with the school's "whole health" philosophy in mind.
The big picture: The four-year medical school founded and funded by Walmart heir Alice Walton seeks to train future doctors in traditional medicine, but with an emphasis on holistic and preventive care involving mental, emotional and social health, nutrition and exercise.
The school also intends to emphasize humanities concepts like communication so students learn to listen to and communicate with their patients, dean and CEO Sharmila Makhija previously told Axios.
Driving the news: Wesley Walls of Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects and Simon David of New York-based Office of Strategy and Design, which provided landscape architecture services, gave a tour Friday of part of the building and its surrounding outdoor amenities on J Street in Bentonville.
The intrigue: The four-story, 154,000-square-foot building is designed to incorporate nature and wellness. It features sandstone, lots of large windows, several outdoor spaces where students can spend time together, a garden and surrounding trails.
A café with indoor and outdoor seating is open to students and will also open to the public in November. A trail connects the school to Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
There's also space throughout the interior where artwork can be displayed.
By the numbers: The school received more than 2,000 applications, spokesperson Wendy Echeverria told Axios. Less than 3% of applicants were accepted.
A third of the class is from Arkansas, while the rest are from 18 other states. These students and the next four cohorts after them will receive free tuition, the school announced in October.
More than 50 faculty members work at the school.
