The Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Southern Medical Association. It has a multidisciplinary and inter-professional focus that covers a broad range of topics relevant to physicians and other healthcare specialists.

SMJ // Article

Perspectives

The Enduring Value of the VA in Health Professions Education: Medical Student Perspectives

Authors: Drupad Annapureddy, BS, Joelle Abdallah, BSA, Zuhair Hawa, BS, Hyemi Chong, MD, Reuben J. Arasaratnam, MD

Abstract

In 2021, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) celebrated a fruitful and historic 75-year partnership with academic medical centers.1 The crux of this relationship lies in the enhancement of care for veterans via the presence of academic medical faculty and trainees while simultaneously providing a robust and diverse clinical experience for health professions trainees. Recent estimates reveal that almost 27,000 medical students received some training at a VA facility during the 2020–2021 academic year.2,3 Ninety-seven percent of medical schools in the United States are affiliated with the VA, and 70% of physicians in the United States have received at least some training at the VA, reflecting the ongoing success of this partnership.2 In this perspective, three medical students who train at a medical school affiliated with the VA give their accounts of their first Internal Medicine clerkship at a large VA facility.

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