Syracuse, N.Y. – SUNY Upstate’s Norton College of Medicine is partnering with a North Carolina group that aims to help special forces veterans get into medical school.
The group, called Special Operations Forces to School of Medicine, provides free assistance to medical school applicants who served in Special Operations Forces, such as the Navy Seals, Green Berets, or Army Rangers.
The idea is to help these veterans secure an interview and consideration for a spot in medical school. Admission is not guaranteed, but the group and Upstate have agreed to put these veterans’ applications at the top of the list for consideration.
That, alone, is a big help. Upstate gets about 4,500 applications each year. The state school selects about 500 for interviews and admits around 160.
The organization, which was formally established last year, has helped 21 veterans get into medical school on their first try, Matthew Bergen, the group’s Executive Director said through email.
The non-profit is currently overseeing a group of 10 veterans who are applying for entrance to medical school in 2025.
Upstate Medical University expects to see applicants helped by the group in 2027, according to Dr. Jeffrey Siegler, a board member of the program.
Siegler says they typically start working with veterans two years before they apply to medical school. The group provides help with studying for the medical admission test, preparing their applications, writing personal essays and interviewing.
They may also be connected with medical research opportunities. Siegler says veterans often don’t have the same opportunities for research in college or in the military as typical applicants do.
Veterans can be connected with academics in the medical community who are undergoing research projects. They can then potentially get their names published in academic studies in medical journals, which is a huge boost on their application, according to Siegler.
He says the coaching process is 99% remote, so anyone across the country can apply, even currently deployed soldiers. The program is still small and has mostly spread by word of mouth within the Special Operations Forces community.
The partnership establishes a direct line of communication between the college and the organization. Once a veteran has gone through the coaching program and applies to SUNY Upstate, the admissions office will be notified and they will be fast-tracked to an interview.
“What we do is essentially exchange their service and experience for time,” said Robert Ruiz, Upstate’s associate dean and director of admissions and enrollment management.
The veterans’ application fee will also be waived, Ruiz said.
A special Upstate admissions officer will watch and monitor this progress on an annual basis, coordinating with the university’s Veterans Affairs specialist to ensure they receive any necessary benefits, Ruiz said.
For now, Ruiz is overseeing the partnership himself to ensure a smooth start.
“We think they’d be really good students in our class in terms of the composition and richness of the class because they have different perspectives than maybe your traditional medical student,” Ruiz said.
Special Operations Forces veterans are being singled out for their highly refined skill sets. These veterans have many qualities which SUNY Upstate looks for in an applicant, including teamwork, reliability and dependability, service orientation, and critical thinking, according to Ruiz.
“We’re always interested in trying to see how we can help veterans advance their education and careers,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz also hopes the program will also encourage the veterans to stay in Syracuse after they graduate.
Siegler, who completed his residency at SUNY Upstate in 2015, said they saw Syracuse as an attractive place to create a partnership.
“Syracuse is a perfect mix of the academic college life as well as the ease of living there. It was not hard to be a new resident, both resident in the hospital term, but also resident of the city of Syracuse,” Siegler said.
Upstate is the fifth medical school to partner with the group. The other medical schools include: William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell.
The Special Operations Forces to School of Medicine application form mirrors the American Association of Medical Colleges application cycle. The SOFtoSOM application opens in June and the window to submit lasts a few months.
The board then reviews all the applicants and selects its scholars in September.
The application link and more information about the program can be found on the website https://www.softosom.org/ or by emailing info@SOFtoSOM.org.