{"id":64452,"date":"2019-03-14T23:53:20","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T23:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/14\/could-putting-college-students-in-va-hospitals-help-widespread-staffing-shortage\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:08:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:08:37","slug":"could-putting-college-students-in-va-hospitals-help-widespread-staffing-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/03\/14\/could-putting-college-students-in-va-hospitals-help-widespread-staffing-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"Could putting college students in VA hospitals help widespread staffing shortage?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Imagine a world where more civilians knew about veterans\u2019 health issues and were trained early on to be doctors, health professionals, and even advocates for the wellbeing of military service members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s what Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, hopes can happen if her new bill becomes law. The Veterans-Specific Education for Tomorrow\u2019s Health Professionals Act aims to create a program for pre-med students to get clinical observation hours and other training at VA hospitals before medical school. She also sees it as a promising way to address the more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/09\/04\/one-in-10-va-jobs-is-unfilled-leaving-gaps-in-veterans-services\/\" target=\"_blank\">40,000 job vacancies<\/a> within the Veterans Health Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI call it a ladder into the VA,\u201d Kaptur said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bill would establish a one-year pilot program in at least five VA hospitals, prioritizing students studying a health profession where there is an identified VA staffing shortage, as well as veterans. Students who are from medically underserved areas, the first in their families to go to college, or who attend schools with a large minority student population will also get priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt addresses the fact that we are a very large country with many possibilities, but that if your family hasn\u2019t had an experience in the military or through the Department of Veterans Affairs, for example, you simply don\u2019t know that these jobs are available. It\u2019s a place you don\u2019t look. You don\u2019t even think about it,\u201d the congresswoman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur bill is a way of creating a pipeline of future doctors, nurses, medical professionals who would serve in the Department of Veterans Affairs\u201d \u2014 and, on a larger scale, alert people to the fact that the VA actually exists, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation, dubbed the \u201cVet HP Act\u201d for short, recently passed the House of Representatives and is now being considered in the Senate, where Kaptur\u2019s office is confident the bill will get through.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/02\/21\/as-va-staff-vacancies-rise-union-leaders-blast-administration-officials-for-setting-us-up-to-fail\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7992.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">\u2018Setting us up to fail\u2019 \u2014 VA blasted over unfilled health care positions<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Almost 12 percent of the department&#039;s total jobs are currently unfilled.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA spokesman Randy Noller said the department has not taken a position on the bill and pointed out that the VA has actually seen a recent decrease in the number of vacant positions, hiring 1,045 additional mental health providers alone since Jan. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe best indicators of adequate staffing levels are not vacancies, but veteran access to care and health care outcomes,\u201d he said in an email. \u201cBy those standards, VA is doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, according to employment figures Noller provided, about 11 percent of full-time equivalent positions in the Veterans Health Administration remain vacant \u2014 a total of 42,790 out of 374,956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea for the Vet HP Act originated from Kaptur\u2019s own visits to VA health care centers, she said, as well as the advocacy efforts of undergraduate students who reached out to her office a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of those students was Michael McNamara, then a pre-med major at Georgetown University who is now in his first year of medical school at Medical College of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe kind of came at it from the student perspective,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need so many hours to get seriously looked at in terms of an application to medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But if you don\u2019t have any personal connections to physicians or hospitals or robust school alumni networks to help you make those connections, finding a place to get that type of exposure before medical school can be challenging, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2625\" height=\"3459\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McNamaraM-002-RESIZED.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McNamaraM-002-RESIZED.jpg.jpg 2625w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McNamaraM-002-RESIZED.jpg.jpg?resize=228,300 228w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McNamaraM-002-RESIZED.jpg.jpg?resize=768,1012 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McNamaraM-002-RESIZED.jpg.jpg?resize=777,1024 777w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McNamaraM-002-RESIZED.jpg.jpg?resize=1166,1536 1166w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/McNamaraM-002-RESIZED.jpg.jpg?resize=1554,2048 1554w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2625px) 100vw, 2625px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Medical student Michael McNamara said a a pilot program like the one proposed in the Vet HP Act could help foster early loyalty to the VA health care system. (Michael McNamara)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the group was discussing ways to level the playing field, they thought about the VA, which had recently been in the news in McNamara\u2019s home state of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2015\/03\/10\/obama-to-visit-phoenix-va-hospital-that-sparked-scandal\/\" target=_blank>Arizona after dozens of patients died<\/a> while waiting for appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was just generally becoming more recognized that [vacancies are] a huge problem, and things were being done to ameliorate it. But from the student perspective, it seemed like an area where we could maybe help,\u201d McNamara said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the VA has a good reputation for training physicians, and a pilot program like the one Kaptur is proposing could help foster early loyalty to the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMaybe if from the very beginning they were exposed to VA as a tool for helping these specific veteran health issues, as well as educators, there might be some incentive \u2026 to remain within the organization and help some of these vacancies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andrew Frank, another Georgetown alumnus who worked on the idea with Kaptur\u2019s office, said such a partnership has the ability to have a far-reaching impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt the bare minimum, the result of a clinical shadowing program at the VA is a more conscientious and veteran-aware student,\u201d he said. \u201cAt its best, it&#8217;s a future VA physician or other healthcare professional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kaptur said the VA has a lot to teach the next generation \u2014 from studies being conducted in research labs to the use of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2019\/02\/07\/how-3d-printers-are-cutting-down-surgery-times-and-helping-vets-get-their-mobility-back-at-va-hospitals\/\" target=\"_blank\">new medical technologies<\/a> addressing veterans\u2019 needs. And on the flip side, the young students poised to someday become health professionals would bring an infusion of \u201cnew energy and new intelligence\u201d to the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bill mandates that each training session provide a \u201cdiverse clinical observation experience\u201d; while the majority of the time should be spent observing a health professional, students should also be exposed to a variety of aspects of medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the legislation moves forward to become law, the pilot program would run for one year, starting no later than August 2021, with five to 15 undergraduate students at each of the five VA health center sites per training period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A proposed bill aims to create a program for pre-med students to get clinical observation hours and other training at VA hospitals before medical school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":100413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,157,79,12,26,15,62,19],"tags":[8472,8476],"coauthors":[3388],"class_list":["post-64452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-health-care-benefits","category-military-benefits","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pay-benefits","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans","tag-department-of-veterans-affairs","tag-veterans-health-administration"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"S2UJL5C6RNEMDALMW2IXREBOGA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/03\/14\/could-putting-college-students-in-va-hospitals-help-widespread-staffing-shortage\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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