Background

Despite the valuable skills and unique perspectives that Veterans bring to the medical field, they remain significantly underrepresented as applicants and matriculants to US medical schools. Of the 55,188 US medical school applicants in 2022, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Data on Diversity in Medical School Enrollment reports that 375 selected “Veteran” and 164 applicants selected “active duty” on their American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) applications. Of those, 154 (0.67% of all matriculants) matriculated the following year.

Postbaccalaureate premedical programs (PBPM) like the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) help address this disparity. This two-year in-residence program was established in 2014 as a partnership between the uniformed services and USUHS. EMDP2 is open to enlisted members from all branches and career fields, and there are several civilian programs who leverage the unique experience of enlisted military medics applying to medical school. Some examples are the University of Minnesota Military Medic to Medical School Program, Special Operations Forces to School of Medicine at Hofstra, and Medic to Medicine Program at Nova Southeastern University. These pathway programs acknowledge the leadership, resilience, and commitment to service of enlisted service members, while diversifying the medical corps.
 

Challenges to Address

Enlisted aspiring medical students face unique challenges in navigating the academic and medical school admissions landscapes, which have historically prioritized traditional academic trajectories. Enlisted service members struggle to describe their military experience in language understood by civilian medical schools, and they are less informed about the academic and experiential factors associated with medical school acceptance. Enlisted service members may not score highly on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) due to lack of access to or inability to pay for test preparation resources. Enlisted service members also do not readily have access to clinical shadowing experiences. And despite PBPMs intending to support enlisted service members, they may find the application process overwhelming as they balance military responsibilities with the demanding medical school requirements.
 

Importance

Mentorship is felt to be essential to support enlisted service members in overcoming these challenges, matriculating into medical school, and improving the military medicine workforce. Studies showed that mentorship can have a significant impact on personal development, career guidance, and career choice.4,8 This longitudinal relationship in which a mentor provides the mentee advice, feedback and coaching has been cited as a key factor in increasing job satisfaction, career advancement, and retention. Mentorship is essential for fostering the confidence, knowledge, and guidance necessary for success in medical school and career progression program applications.
 

Rationale

There is a paucity of data exploring whether existing mentoring relationships between physicians and enlisted service members are adequately addressing their specific needs and challenges. This panel discussion could provide critical insights into current mentorship efforts, and how to improve them in a way that encourages more enlisted service members to pursue medical school and fill the needs of the military health system.