Graduate Medical Education Selection Board Strengthens Military Medical Workforce

Story by Robert Hammer

Defense Health Agency

More than 500 health care leaders from around the Military Health System worldwide conducted the annual Joint Graduate Medical Education Selection Board at the Uniformed Services University from Nov. 18 to Nov. 22 to determine the future career paths of medical students and physicians applying for advanced training.

The Defense Health Agency’s Graduate Medical Education program oversees residencies and fellowships in support of the three service branches: U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force. Military applicants to DHA GME programs compete for positions via the selection board.

In the plenary session, members of all service branches gathered to listen to senior leaders from across the MHS to discuss topics of mutual interest and concern. Leaders to include U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, DHA Director; Dr. Jonathan Woodson, president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; and U.S. Army Col. Kent DeZee, program director for the DHA GME, provided updates about current and future DHA initiatives, including new policies and tools for GME leaders and students.

Woodson highlighted the critical role of GME leaders, declaring “your role is essential in determining the best placement for candidates within graduate medical education programs. It’s not just about academic performance and clinical expertise. It’s about ensuring that each candidate is matched with the program that aligns with their strengths and potential, the needs of the services and MHS, and preparing them for unique challenges serving in the military medical community. The diverse experiences and perspectives each of you brings to this process will ensure a thoughtful and informed deliberation.”

Crosland emphasized the importance of the MHS in patient-centered care.

“I think it’s important that we appreciate what the Military Health System is. It is everything inside our Department of Defense that deals with medical and health, that’s our health system,” she said. “Our MHS is a phenomenal health care system inside of our nation and delivers great outcomes for our patients.”
She introduced recent initiatives underway and digital health tools that will soon be rolled out across the MHS to create a better health care system centered on the patient.

Crosland explained that health care delivery is changing, and DHA is adapting its approach to how patients can access care: traditional in-person visits, convenient virtual visits, and automated care and advice with mobile apps.

Centralized DHA GME Resource Page

An important resource that DeZee discussed is the newly launched GME website on Health.mil with easy-to-use search tools an applicant can use to locate training sites and individual programs.

“The new website is up and ready for everyone to use,” said DeZee. “All of our 216 programs are standardized in the same format. It’s publicly accessible. You don’t need a CAC card.”

Launched on July 1, the DHA Graduate Medical Education GME landing page helps medical students, residents, and physicians across the MHS find information for programs offered by the DHA. This new, central location for GME information replaces the many sites that existed prior to this website launch.

“People are telling me that they look at the website and say they did not realize that we offered so many programs,” said DeZee. “In less than six months, we’ve had 30,000 page views. We have students looking at it, recruiters using it, and families of candidates also looking.”

DeZee encouraged military medical leaders to not only take advantage of the website, but also to keep it fresh, asking GME leaders to add photos of students and residents in action, and to actively update needed info on the site.