Page 23 - JSOM Fall 2024

TABLE 2 USU Students’ Intended Specialty by Class and Operational Capability
Group, %
Pre-DHA Post-DHA
Specialty Class of 2015 Class of 2016 Class of 2017 Class of 2018 Class of 2019 Class of 2020
“Clear operational capability”
Anesthesiology* 7.8 6.8 11.1 13.1 7.9 7.6
Emergency medicine* 7.8 8.8 8.7 12.3 11.0 12.7
Family medicine* 17.0 10.1 10.3 14.8 12.8 11.4
Internal medicine* 11.8 17.6 16.7 8.2 14.0 12.0
Neurological surgery 0.0 1.4 1.6 0.0 1.2 1.3
Ophthalmology 2.0 2.0 2.4 3.3 1.8 1.3
Orthopedics* 7.2 6.1 7.1 5.7 5.5 4.4
Preventive medicine 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.8 1.2 1.3
Psychiatry 2.6 6.1 3.2 3.3 5.5 10.1
General surgery* 9.2 8.8 6.3 9.0 6.1 6.3
Thoracic surgery 0.7 0.7 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.6
“Limited operational capability”
Pediatrics* 5.9 9.5 8.7 6.6 8.5 4.4
Neurology* 0.7 0.0 2.4 0.8 1.2 0.6
Obstetrics and gynecology 4.6 3.4 3.2 1.6 2.4 5.7
Otolaryngology* 3.9 5.4 2.4 4.1 3.0 3.2
Pathology* 2.6 2.0 1.6 1.6 3.0 1.3
Plastic surgery 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.6
Radiology 6.5 5.4 4.0 5.7 6.1 5.7
Urology 2.0 2.0 4.0 1.6 2.4 2.5
Vascular surgery 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.0
“Minimal/no operational capability”
Dermatology* 2.6 2.0 3.2 1.6 3.7 4.4
Medical genetics 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Nuclear medicine 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Physical medicine and rehabilitation 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.6
Radiation oncology 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.6 0.0
Not applicable
Undecided 2.6 2.0 1.6 4.1 0.6 1.9
Values are represented as percentage of USU students intending to enter various specialties across various class years. DHA refers to changes by
the Defense Health Agency (DHA) in 2017. Specialties are categorized by operational designation.
*Includes subspecialties within that specific field.
USU = Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

FIGURE 2 Would USU students choose medical school again? proportion of students who answered “no,” “probably no,” or
“neutral.”

Discussion
In the wake of the DHA transition, our study sought to an-
swer whether there was a significant change in the proportion
of students opting for what have been characterized as “op-
erational” or “wartime” specialties and whether students re-
mained satisfied with their decision to attend medical school.
Although we hypothesized that we would see an increase in
USU students selecting more wartime specialties, our data
demonstrated no statistically significant differences between
the pre- and post-DHA groups.
The relatively unchanged proportion of students selecting
Percentage of students indicating that they would or would not choose
medical school again. There were no significant differences in the dis- wartime specialties was unexpected and has important im-
tribution of student responses over these years (P=.517). plications going forward. Furthermore, the emphasis that the
USU = Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. DHA and MHS have placed on these operational specialties
does not appear to have translated into a significant increase

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