{"id":145684,"date":"2025-03-19T14:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T18:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=145684"},"modified":"2025-03-19T14:24:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T18:24:31","slug":"serving-veterans-inspires-ucf-med-students-residency-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/serving-veterans-inspires-ucf-med-students-residency-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Serving Veterans Inspires UCF Med Students, Residency Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

UCF medical student Zachary Self hadn\u2019t decided on a specialty for his medical career \u2013 until he cared for patients at the Orlando VA Medical Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got the privilege of meeting a couple World War II vets, who had all sorts of health problems that were unique to that population. I saw a patient exposed to a significant amount of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War,\u201d he says. \u201cThey were also some of the most grateful patients that I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those experiences inspired Self to enter the U.S. Army and seek an internal medicine residency at a military hospital. As Match Day 2025 approaches on Friday for more than 30,000 medical school seniors nationwide, Self already knows where he will be doing his graduate medical education training: Fort Eisenhower, an Army Installation in Augusta, Georgia.<\/p>\n

The Health Professions Scholarship program pays for a year of medical school in exchange for one year of service as a military physician. Most medical students begin their military affiliation early in their schooling to reduce medical school debt. Self decided to enlist after seeing the health issues veterans experience because of their service.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the veterans have chemical biologic exposures that lead to a lot of health problems,\u201d he says, \u201cso I want to educate the patients on symptoms of these things so they can get the help they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

M.D. graduates cannot practice medicine until they finish a residency in their specialty of choice. Such training, called graduate medical education (GME), lasts three to seven years depending on the specialty. Students interview with residency programs during their fourth year of medical school and list their top choices. Residency programs do the same. A computer then matches the lists. Most residency matches are kept secret until noon EST on the third Friday of March. Military officers and students seeking several specialties go through an early match process.<\/p>\n

In addition to Self, three other  UCF medical students matched early into residency programs:<\/p>\n