MINNEAPOLIS— According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, one problem veterans face is finding a job after they leave their service.
They obviously have skills, but these are not always valued as work experience. The University of Minnesota Medical School hopes to change that.
Sarah Louden, 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, grandfathers and great uncle, I thought I would be grateful,” Louden said.
Taylor Richot, who grew up in Forest Lake, is a U.S. Army medic.
“In seventh grade I witnessed a drowning, and I remember standing at the edge of a pool sobbing and feeling immense guilt because I didn’t know how to save this person in front of me who was having a hard time” , said Richor. . “And from that moment on, I decided that I was not going to be in an emergency situation where I couldn’t help someone anymore.”
Fueled by the urge to protect, Richot became a field hospital doctor in the army.
“The paramedic evacuation mission is something I’m very consciously choosing to do, to be able to get service members back home or back into the fight, as most of them want to do,” Louden said.
She fell in love with medicine, but her commitment made it seem impossible to become a doctor.
“It just took a really long time for me to feel like I was a worthy candidate for medical school,” she said.
Turns out she’s a worthy candidate, and so is Richot. They are part of a new program at the University of Minnesota Medical School that grants automatic admission to physicians who meet MCAT and GPA requirements.
The program was started by the family of a World War II veteran, William Lewis Anderson, who was killed in action but dreamed of becoming a doctor.
“We’re paving the way for other people. That’s what’s exciting about it,” Louden said.
Richet was at school when she got the news.
“It was really exciting. Personally, I never thought I would have the opportunity to go to medical school,” she said. “We bring this sense of creativity to medicine. We’re used to being in the field or in a field hospital or sitting in the back of a helicopter, where we don’t have all those resources at our fingertips and we still have to figure it out how we can save someone’s life. I think we’re both very excited about that challenge.”
There is a third student, Isaac, who is a medic in the special forces and will enlist after his service.
One of the medical school’s leaders says he is pleased that the program can make full medical use of the veterans’ years of service. They believe that the candidates they have chosen to start this program will be excellent physicians.
Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield
