As a founding partner and stakeholder institution, KCU has provided biomedical research opportunities within the greater Kansas City area.

[11] The first students in the College of Biosciences began coursework in the fall of 2005, working towards a one-year master's degree in biomedical sciences.

[13] In 2009, the president of the university, Karen Pletz, pursued the possibility of offering a dual DO-MD degree.

[14] The idea of a dual DO-MD degree was very controversial and raised concerns within the osteopathic medical community.

[19][20] In January 2014, the university announced a $60 million expansion plan which included a clinical training center, offices, classrooms, and a medical simulation building.

[21][22] As part of this expansion, the university began construction of the Center for Medical Education Innovation (CMEI) on the Kansas City Campus in 2018.

The university expanded the Joplin Campus to include a College of Dental Medicine, which offers a 4-year DMD degree.

[28][29] KCU offers graduate degrees in osteopathic medicine, biomedical sciences, clinical psychology, business, and bioethics.

During years three and four, students are matched with a preceptor or at a hospital/ward at a KCU-affiliated clerkship site in various specialties of medicine and surgery.

Students at KCU's College of Osteopathic Medicine also partner with local health organizations during the first and second year.

First and second year students can apply to be student doctors and scribes, working with attending physicians, at KC Care Health Center, a local clinic providing health services to financially underserved populations in Kansas City, MO.

Students are exposed to a broad base of discipline-specific knowledge and trained in profession-wide competencies set by the American Psychological Association.

[37] The Leonard Smith Hall houses more than 50 individual and small-group study rooms, a computer lab, student lounge, and a Bioethics classroom.

CMEI also houses ICU simulation sites, medical robots, 22 standardized patient rooms, and a 70-bay lab for physical diagnosis, and osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM).

The program screens up to 13,000 children for vision, dental, hearing, blood pressure, height, weight and more every year.

Registered nurses follow up with children who have a referral and their families to connect them to health resources in the community.