• Two Class of 2025 Family Medicine Graduates Staying with Freeman as Physicians

For immediate release: Monday, June 16, 2025

Congrats Grads!

 Two Class of 2025 Family Medicine Graduates Staying with Freeman as Physicians

What: Class of 2025 Family Residency Graduate celebration

When: 5:00-6:30 pm Thursday, June 19, 2025

Where: Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce, 16 West Spring Street, Neosho, MO

Background: The inaugural graduating class of Freeman Health System’s Family Medicine Residency Program will be recognized and celebrated for their hard work and dedication to both patients and communities Thursday evening in Neosho.

Family medicine residents complete three years of postgraduate medical training, with one major component being their continuity clinic experience. Three of the four graduates have worked in the Freeman Neosho clinical site, and will be honored during the ceremony:

• Terrence Kelly, DO
• Omar Rehman, DO
• Andrea Pelate, MD

Dr. Barbara Miller, physician program director for Freeman, led the team which created the Family Medicine Residency Program in late 2019 – operating in conjunction with Kansas City University’s medical school in Joplin.

The program welcomed its first class in summer 2022. Each year, the program adds five new resident physicians, two of whom serve three-year clinical stints at the Freeman Rural Family Medicine Residency Clinic in Neosho, which provides care for the entire family through every stage of life.

Studies indicate a large percentage of residents choose to stay and work at, or near, the location where they completed their training. The 2025 graduating class is proving no different.

Three of the graduates will continue their medical careers in Joplin. Dr. Pelate (outpatient family medicine/pediatrics) will stay in Neosho, serving rural patients there. Dr. Kelly will work as a hospitalist at Freeman West and a core faculty member for the residency program. Dr. Rehman will be working in urgent care, and plans to complete a fellowship in sports medicine. The fourth member of the class, Dr. Michael Kulasekera, has been based in Joplin and will be employed at Access Family Care.

“Watching someone gain confidence and skill, to be part of that development as they become a physician who I would be willing to send my family members to see, is incredibly rewarding,” said Dr. Miller.

Media: Contact Kevin McClintock, Media Relations Coordinator, at 417.434.3458 if attending.

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About Freeman Health System
Locally owned, not-for-profit and nationally recognized, Freeman Health System includes Freeman Hospital West, Freeman Hospital East, Freeman Neosho Hospital and Ozark Center – the area’s largest provider of behavioral health services – as well as two urgent care clinics, dozens of physician clinics and a variety of specialty services. In 2024, Freeman earned dozens of individual awards for medical excellence and patient safety from CareChex®, a quality rating system that helps consumers evaluate healthcare providers and their experiences. U.S. News & World Report named Freeman Health System one of the Best Hospitals for 2022. With more than 320 physicians on staff representing more than 90 specialties, Freeman provides cancer care, heart care, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, children’s services, women’s services, and many others for all of the Four State Area. Freeman is also involved in numerous community-based activities and sponsored events and celebrations. Additionally, in the Joplin/Pittsburg areas, Freeman is the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in a 70-mile radius. For more information, visit freemanhealth.com.