Page 78 - JSOM Spring 2025

their roles as physician leaders in patient care. Physicians and it appears that MD programs value the intangible attributes of
trainees who display strong traits like effective teamwork and military experience that translate to skills in medicine. These
collaboration not only achieve higher patient outcomes and sat- traits could include commitment to service, leadership experi-
isfaction but also feel more fulfilled in their medical careers. 18 ence, self-awareness, and maturity, all of which make veterans
attractive candidates for medical school.
Our study, while shedding light on the acceptance rates of
military veterans to MD programs compared to traditional In general, most veterans are proud of their service. A Pew
applicants, is subject to several limitations that warrant con- Research Center study found that 68% of veterans felt proud
sideration. First, the temporal scope of our analysis was con- of their service within the first few years of leaving the mili-
fined to a 6-year period that may not fully capture long-term tary. Finding purpose in service to a higher calling, veterans
1
patterns in admissions and the evolving dynamics of medical highlight leadership and camaraderie as some of many bene-
school selection criteria. The relatively short duration limits fits of serving, which drive many veterans to continue to serve
the generalizability of our findings across different timeframes after the military. 19,20 For some, a career in medicine provides
due to changing educational and admissions policies. that opportunity for continued service in a different capacity.
Fortunately, admissions committees look favorably on military
Second, our analysis included all applicants in our compari- service and understand the value of varied life experiences in
son group, which also encompassed the military applicants. promoting success with future patients and in the medical pro-
Though the number of military applicants is small (0.7% in fession overall. The intangible benefits that veterans bring to
2022) compared to the total pool, their inclusion in the all- medicine can outweigh lower average GPAs and MCAT scores,
applicant data potentially skews the comparison. Removing and veterans seeking to serve in medicine should therefore not
the military from this group might have accentuated the differ- be discouraged by lower achievement in these metrics. Mov-
ences observed in average GPA and MCAT scores, potentially ing forward, further research is required to track veterans in
finding statistical significance in our results. medical school through Step exams and residency placement
to compare their success to that of their non-veteran peers.
Our study also relied on aggregate data. Consequently, we
were unable to examine individual applicant profiles, such as Author Contributions
undergraduate institution, clinical and research backgrounds, PM conceived this study, attained the data and performed
volunteer experiences, additional degree types, and other per- analysis, wrote, submitted, and edited the manuscript. JB sup-
sonal characteristics. A more granular dataset would allow for ported study design, data analysis, editing, writing, and sub-
a deeper understanding of how non-academic factors contrib- mitting the final version. TY, KN, JF, and MT contributed to
uted to veteran admission. Moreover, our data did not include the data analysis, source verification, outline, section writing,
the specific schools where each veteran applied and matric- and submission. JC, JM, and VP contributed to study design,
ulated, which would allow us to determine whether specific data attainment and analysis, and manuscript editing. All au-
institutions accept veterans at a higher rate. thors reviewed and approved the paper’s submission.
We also lacked data on the socioeconomic background of mil- Disclosures
itary applicants. It is likely that military applicants to medical The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial dis-
school tend to come from officer ranks and higher socioeco- closures to report. They would like to note that many of the
nomic backgrounds rather than enlisted ranks. As such, the authors are veterans and share a strong interest in supporting
difference in socioeconomic backgrounds between veteran fellow veterans as they apply to medical school.
medical students and their medical student classmates may not
be as different as perceived. Disclaimer
The content of and views expressed in this paper reflect the
Additionally, our research did not extend to post-admission views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the
veteran outcomes, such as United States Medical Licensing views of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai or other
Examination (USMLE) Step scores, board scores, specialty organizations.
selection, and residency placement. Understanding how mil-
itary veterans fare in these areas compared to their non-vet- Funding
eran counterparts is crucial for a comprehensive assessment of No funding was received for this work.
their journey through medical education. This gap highlights
the need for future research to explore whether the observed References
parity in acceptance translates to similar acceptance rates in 1. Parker K, Igielnik R, Barroso A, Cilluffo A. The American Veteran
later stages of medical careers. Further work could also ex- Experience and the Post-9/11 Generation. Pew Research Center.
amine whether these findings apply to physician assistant and 2019.
nursing schools. 2. Brock DM, Wick KH, Evans TC, Gianola FJ. The physician assis-
tant profession and military veterans. Mil Med. 2011;176(2):197–
203. doi:10.7205/milmed-d-10-00108
Conclusion 3. D’Aoust RF, Rossiter AG, Clochesy JM. Supporting medics’ and
corpsmen’s move into professional nursing. Nurse Educ Today.
Our results show that, despite lower scores on objective met- 2016;47:10–14. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2016.04.019
rics such as undergraduate GPA and MCAT score, military 4. Kuehn BM. Nursing careers for veterans. JAMA. 2013;309(24):2542.
veterans are just as likely to be accepted to medical school doi:10.1001/jama.2013.7640
as their non-veteran counterparts. Without more granular 5. Bellaire CP, Fetherston TB, Chudow J, Maysonet J, Appel JM, Par-
kas V. All we can be: innovations to improve the pipeline of military
data, it is not possible to pinpoint the reasons why medical veterans in medical schools. Teach Learn Med. 2022;34(1):105–
schools value veterans as members of each incoming class. Yet 112. doi:10.1080/10401334.2021.1934474

76 | JSOM Volume 25, Edition 1 / Spring 2025