From the ranks of the U.S. military to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, from left: Ray Tang, Chris Bellaire, Brendan Bechard, and Thomas Fetherston.
A new Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai admissions program for United States military personnel recently welcomed its first recruit: former Marine Lieutenant Chris Bellaire, who will join the Class of 2023 in September.
“The opportunity to apply when I was on active duty and then defer acceptance was so accommodating that it, honestly, changed my life,” says Mr. Bellaire, a Princeton University alumnus and former intelligence officer who supported Marine units engaged in tactical and special operations. Accepted to Mount Sinai’s program in March, he is currently attending a post-baccalaureate graduate program at Columbia University.
Chris Bellaire
All full-time active duty military personnel are eligible to apply to Mount Sinai if they have a baccalaureate degree from a U.S. or Canadian-accredited institution that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The arrangement is similar to the Icahn School of Medicine’s popular FlexMed program, which allows college sophomores to apply for early assurance of acceptance to medical school. Students accepted through both FlexMed and the new military program do not take the Medical College Acceptance Test (MCAT).
Adjusting admissions requirements is rooted in evidence that students with “nontraditional” backgrounds match the performance of students who spend their college education immersed in science courses. Before taking their places in medical school, these aspiring physicians must complete one year of coursework in both biology and chemistry, a semester of physics, a semester of statistics, and one year of laboratory work in biology and/or chemistry. Admitted students are required to achieve a “B” in all required courses, and to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5. They must also log 100 hours of documented clinical service in nursing homes, clinics, or other patient facilities.
Military backgrounds enrich the pool of doctors, says David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education and the Marietta and Charles C. Morchand Chair in Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Medicine and service are inseparable, and service is paramount for women and men who are on active duty. “Through great efforts they give more than most of us can ever imagine giving in a lifetime,” Dr. Muller says. “They bring incredible talent, diverse knowledge, and unique skills to the learning environment and the health care workforce.”
Active duty often requires urgent decisions to be made under pressure, experience that is immensely valuable to doctors who work in emergency rooms, intensive care units, or operating rooms. “When you think about leadership, team building, discipline, maturity, and focus,” Dr. Muller says, “they embody the best of those attributes.”
Ray Tang
Indeed, second-year Mount Sinai medical student Ray Tang says his experience as an infantryman in the Marines, serving two deployments in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013, provided him with the “strict discipline and organization that has helped me stay on top of my schoolwork, while maintaining good health and work-life balance. The training and deployments improved my mental toughness and ability to stay calm in stressful, high-risk situations,” he says. In addition, the teamwork he experienced in the Marines has helped him work effectively with others, which is a critical component of delivering excellent patient care.
Reaching prospective students with news of Mount Sinai’s tailored admissions process for applicants on active duty has been somewhat challenging, says Dr. Muller. But it was his 2015 interview with National Public Radio about nontraditional paths to a medical education that actually caught the attention of Mr. Bellaire. “I thought the door to medical school had closed. Then I heard about a school that values nontraditional experience,” he recalls. A phone call to express his interest in Mount Sinai’s medical school reached Dr. Muller, who told him about the new initiative. Mr. Bellaire applied in the fall of 2017 and had an interview at Mount Sinai in March 2018, one week after completing his military service.
During his stint in the Marines, and on his own time, Mr. Bellaire assisted in the emergency department and the intensive care unit of a hospital near the Marine Corps Base in Hawaii. While deployed in the Philippines, he confirmed his interest in global health and serving disenfranchised and vulnerable populations.
Seeing veterans with injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder helped spark Mr. Bellaire’s interest in medicine and steered him toward the Icahn School of Medicine’s Neuropathology Research Division Training Program, directed by John F. Crary, MD, PhD. While enrolled at Columbia, Mr. Bellaire is volunteering at Dr. Crary’s brain bank at Mount Sinai and learning about brain diseases in preparation for medical school next year.
Thomas Fetherston
Former infantry medic Thomas Fetherston, a first-year medical student and recipient of the F. Edward Hébert Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program, approaches a career in medicine informed by his battlefield experience assisting injured soldiers in Afghanistan. The alarming frequency of suicide and suicidal thoughts among returning veterans has spurred his current interest in the use of ketamine for drug-resistant depression.
“Dealing with people who have suffered losses has enabled me to better understand their stress and to understand the doctors who are at the end of the line for a lot of their patients,” he says. After medical school and residency, he plans to resume his army career.
Now a second-year Mount Sinai medical student, Brendan Bechard enlisted in the Marines in 2005. While stationed in Quantico, Virginia, and Okinawa, Japan, he maintained the military’s vital supply chain and enhanced unit readiness for operations throughout Southeast Asia. When his service ended, he earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Columbia University and subsequently performed research for the Traumatic Stress Studies Division, which is directed by Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, and Neuroscience, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx.
Brendan Bechard
“My interest in neuroscience is directly related to my service,” says Mr. Bechard, who leads the Icahn School of Medicine’s student group for military veterans. “It’s our duty as medical student-veterans to continue serving our sisters and brothers in arms.” In addition to furnishing a robust support community for all military veterans who work or study at the Mount Sinai Health System, the group encourages medical students to work with Veterans Affairs medical facilities in New York City.
Mount Sinai’s support for veterans has been incredibly encouraging, says Mr. Bellaire. “The new pathway program is an example of how the school really values diversity and service. It seemed like the perfect fit for me as I planned for my medical education after the military.”