University of Minnesota Medical School program lifts barriers to entrance for military medics
MINNEAPOLIS — According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, one issue veterans face is finding a job after they finish their service.
They have skills, of course, but they are not always valued as work experience. The University of Minnesota Medical School is hoping to change that.
Sarah Loudon, who grew up in New York and lives in Minnesota, is a U.S. Air Force flight medic.
"To be able to follow in the footsteps of my father and grandfathers and great uncle was something I thought I would be grateful to do," Loudon said.
Taylor Ritchot, who grew up in Forest Lake, is a U.S. Army medic.
"In seventh grade, I witnessed a drowning, and I remember standing on the edge of a pool, sobbing and I felt this immense guilt because I didn't know how to save this person in front of me who was struggling," Ritchot said. "And from that moment on, I decided I wouldn't be in an emergency situation where I couldn't help someone again."
Fueled by the urge to protect, Ritchot became an Army field hospital medic.
"The paramedic evacuation mission is something I choose very intentionally, to be able to bring service members back home or to get them back to the fight as most of them want to do," Loudon said.
She fell in love with medicine, but with deployments, becoming a doctor seemed impossible.
"It was just taking a very long time to feel I prove myself a worthy medical school candidate," she said.
Turns out she is a worthy candidate, and so is Ritchot. They are part of a new program at the University of Minnesota Medical School that grants medics who meet the MCAT and GPA requirements automatic entrance.
The program received funding by the family of a World War II veteran, William Lewis Anderson, who was killed in action but had dreamed of becoming a doctor.
"We are paving the way for other people. That's the exciting thing," Loudon said.
Ritchot was at school when she got the news.
"It was really exciting. I personally never thought I would have a chance to go to medical school," she said. "We bring this sense of creativity to medicine. We are used to being out in the field or a field hospital or being in the back of a helicopter where we don't have all those resources at the tips of our fingertips and we still have to figure out how to save someone's life. I think we are both very excited for that challenge."
There is a third student, Isaac, who is a medic with special forces and will be enrolling after his service.
One of the leaders of the medical school says they are thrilled the program puts the veterans' years of service to full medical use. They believe the candidates they chose to kick off this program will be excellent doctors.