Medical school, veterans unite around a mission of service, record of success

Medical school, veterans unite around a mission of service, record of success

East Carolina University and the Brody School of Medicine are institutions rooted in service and commitment - values strongly reflected in the mission of our nation's armed services.

So a memorandum of understanding reached last fall by the medical school and a nonprofit, Special Operations Forces to School of Medicine (SOFtoSOM) deepens this connection. The two organizations are to collaborate and cross-promote in an effort to raise the profile of both, while the school pledges to grant an admissions interview to any SOFtoSOM applicant who meets Brody's threshold admissions requirements.

For veterans transitioning from elite military roles into medical careers, that interview represents not just an opportunity but a recognition of the long, nontraditional road many have taken to get there.

Today, there is one medical student at Brody with a background in special operations forces, Andrew Whalen, and several combat veterans and military officers. The SOFtoSOM partnership reflects a relationship with the armed services that has been growing for more than a decade.

In 2012, Dr. Jason Higginson, then a lieutenant commander in the Navy, visited Greenville to interview for a dual role as a practicing neonatologist at the health system and an assistant professorship in the Department of Pediatrics at the school. He was being courted by universities in Miami and California - places closer to the Navy installations and coastlines where he had spent much of his life. But something pulled him toward eastern North Carolina.

"The leaders I met at East Carolina University and what is now ECU Health really drove home the mission here," said Higginson, now executive dean of the medical school. "To train doctors from this area to serve the people of this area who have been underserved by medicine, historically, and have poor health outcomes as a result."

For Higginson, that objective echoed others he had achieved in the military.

"People who enlist or sign on as officers are giving of themselves to the mission, to serve our country, often by meeting the needs of people in other countries," he said. "Finding that culture here really spoke to me. It ended up being the strongest incentive in my interviewing."

He ended his job search and accepted the position in Greenville - a decision that would eventually help shape Brody's newest military partnership.

In December, Higginson retired from the Navy at the rank of captain, having served for more than 26 years.

A new community for SOF veterans

SOFtoSOM is a young organization with a fast-growing footprint. Sixteen medical schools, from New York University to Tulane, have signed on to be partners. Several more have begun the same process with verbal commitments. Meanwhile, the nonprofit supports 44 scholars - all former or current members of special operations forces pursuing medical school.

"Our goal was to have 100 students in 10 years, so we're well ahead," said Brentyn Jones, the group's director of partnerships.

The greatest barrier isn't interest. It's funding. Each scholar receives between $6,000 and $10,000 in support, Jones said, covering everything from medical college admission test (MCAT) preparation materials to lighting and cameras for virtual interviews.

The organization also cultivates something less tangible but as vital: a community for veterans leaving the close-knit world of special operations.

"In the SOF community, it is hard to leave the brotherhood you've built. It's core to your identity," Jones said. "We do a good job of nurturing connection. We become the community."

Many current medical students, residents and attending physicians with SOF backgrounds mentor those preparing to take the leap for themselves through SOFtoSOM.

A leg up along the nontraditional path

SOFtoSOM scholars, Jones explained, tend to follow timelines different from traditional pre-med students. Many have already served for 10 to 15 years. Some earned degrees at night or on weekends while working full-time in demanding units. Others - like Jones himself - began his medical school journey while deployed.

"I was studying for my MCAT when I was deployed in Somalia," he said.

Such a path is better explained in one-on-one screenings with an admissions officer than in electronic applications.

"We've never had a straight-out rejection for any of our scholars who's gotten an interview. If they get to actually speaking to someone, our scholars shine," Jones said. "But a lot of schools are using AI" for initial selections, and "you can get passed over right off."

Brody's commitment to interviewing these candidates honors their service, but it also aligns neatly with its own founding mission to recruit those dedicated to serving the state's most medically underserved communities.

Veterans' new mission at the Brody School of Medicine

Lachlan Younce is a Greenville native and U.S. Naval Academy graduate. Born in the same teaching hospital where he'll soon complete clinical rotations, Younce sees a clear connection between military preparation and medical training.

"The course load at the academy was intense," he said. "And managing groups of people - accountability, leadership, admin work - forces you to take responsibility in your professional life. That applies really well to medical school."

For him, Brody is exactly the environment where a military-trained physician can thrive.

"We're in the middle of one of the most unhealthy regions in the nation," he said. "It's a really good place to learn disease processes. We do a lot with a little by design. That's a lot like the deployed environment, too."

Loran "Mick" Lott served more than 15 years as an Army medic before pursuing medicine. He has applied to the Brody School of Medicine and nine others, and this spring will be giving interviews. Living now in Sanford, he leans on SOFtoSOM not just for academic support but the sense of belonging it offers.

"Most of us earned our degrees at night and on weekends after our real jobs," Lott said. "Any down time was used for assignments or studying. The mission always came first."

For Lott, Brody's partnership isn't symbolic - it's meaningful.

"It raises my respect for the Brody School of Medicine," he said. "It shows the school is trying to help veterans do something more with their lives. This partnership is a huge deal not just for our guys but for the entire veteran community in North Carolina, which is very large."

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