The Catholic Morning Show
Forming Catholic Doctors: Benedictine College's Catholic Medical School – Deacon Dr. Kevin Tulipana – 11/03/2026
Episode Summary
Deacon Dr. Kevin Tulipana, associate dean of the proposed Benedictine College School of Osteopathic Medicine, joins Janelle Menz to explain why Benedictine is building an authentically Catholic medical school in Atchison, Kansas. He shares the accreditation timeline toward a first class in July 2028 and the curriculum that will integrate Catholic anthropology and bioethics into every course across all four years. A former family physician and cancer-hospital president, he also tells the story of his own conversion on contraception and why Catholic physicians are urgently needed to defend the dignity of life from conception to natural death.
Episode Notes
Just three hours south of the Iowa border, Benedictine College is working to launch something no other medical school in the country is doing. Janelle Menz, a Benedictine College graduate, sits down with Deacon Dr. Kevin Tulipana, DO, associate dean of the proposed Benedictine College School of Osteopathic Medicine, on The Catholic Morning Show.
In this interview:
- An Iowa connection: Deacon Tulipana graduated from Des Moines University's osteopathic medical school in 2000 and completed his family medicine residency in Des Moines. He was ordained a deacon in 2014 and previously served as president of City of Hope Phoenix, a National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center.
- Why Benedictine, why now: A call from Benedictine College President Stephen D. Minnis, and a vision to form physicians who see medicine as a vocation in the service of the human person, not just a career.
- The accreditation timeline: Candidate status has been granted by COCA (the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation). The pre-accreditation application is under review, with a decision expected in December, a site visit in February, and a first class planned for July 2028.
- The team: Founding Dean Dr. Marla Golden, DO, an emergency medicine physician with extensive experience leading osteopathic medical schools, plus new faculty being hired now.
- What will set Benedictine doctors apart: An integrated curriculum of Catholic anthropology, moral theology, and bioethics woven through every course for all four years, from anatomy to pharmacology, capped by an immersive bioethics practicum in partner hospital systems.
- Reframing Catholic medicine: Moving beyond "what we can't do" to the positive vision of healing and the gift of life.
- A personal conversion: Why Deacon Tulipana wrote to his 3,000 patients to explain he would no longer prescribe contraception, and the response that followed.
- Why it's urgent: The rise of euthanasia and medically assisted dying, post-Dobbs state battles over life, and the need to form physicians who uphold human dignity from conception to natural death.
Links:
Please keep the Benedictine College School of Osteopathic Medicine in your prayers as the accreditation process continues.
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