• Christopher Russo, Benjamin Freedman, Andrew Evans, Althea Green, Robert Vietor, and Virginia Randall.
• Anesthesiology, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
• Mil Med. 2024 Nov 19.

IntroductionThe lack of adequate diverse representation (racially, socioeconomically, gender, second career applicants, student parents, etc.) within secondary education in the United States has proven to be a challenging and complex, multifaceted problem, and despite ongoing efforts, one that continues to remain unsolved. These disparities are well known and documented at all levels of education. The Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences is the nation's only fully federally funded medical school and capitalizes on the preexisting diversity and exceptional training already existing within the U.S. military's enlisted force through the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2). This study aims to investigate how a novel program at a unique military medical school influences medical school class cohorts.MethodsThis study used a traditional thematic qualitative analysis format. Thematic qualitative analysis is a method for identifying, analyzing, organizing, describing, and reporting themes found within survey responses. One hundred nine surveys via SurveyMonkey© were sent to EMDP2 students. Thirty-six surveys were returned for a response rate of 33%. Two co-investigators carefully read each participant response and coded independently line-by-line with constant comparison of each quote. NVivo© software was used to store the data as the counts progressed.ResultsAfter completion of data collection, results identified the following themes among survey responses being accepted, bridging the gap, feeling valued, gratitude, prior experiences, and professionalism.ConclusionsStudents with prior military experience have a significant impact on our institutions medical school classes. These students provide mentorship and professionalism to their fellow classmates. This study helps educators understand the perspectives and challenges faced by prior-service medical students and appreciate how to use the prior experience of these unique prior-service members to benefit the entire class.© The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2024. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.

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