By GREGORY ZELLER //
One of Long Island’s leading medical schools is on a special mission to help elite U.S. soldiers transition from theaters of war to the front lines of modern medicine.
The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell has teamed up with North Carolina-based 501(c)3 Special Operations Forces to School of Medicine on a collaborative effort supporting American military veterans on their journey to becoming physicians.
SOFtoSOM is a nationwide nonprofit organization built to create pathways for Special Operations Forces servicemen and women to enter healthcare professions as non-traditional applicants, strengthening the ranks of the national medical field through diversity and sheer numbers.
While 30 Special Operations Forces veterans have already completed the SOFtoSOM program and are currently medical students, medical-student applicants or future applicants, the Zucker School of Medicine is the first U.S. medical school to officially partner with the national nonprofit.
David Battinelli: At your service.
The alliance is a masterstroke of capacity and opportunity, according to Zucker School Dean David Battinelli, who noted SOFtoSOM “shares our vision of creating improved pathways for diverse groups to enter the field of medicine and enhance healthcare throughout the United States and the globe.”
“U.S. Special Operations Forces service members embody values inherent in physician leaders, such as excellence and service to others,” noted Battinelli, also the Zucker School’s Betsey Cushing Whitney professor of Medicine and Northwell Health’s executive vice president and physician-in-chief. “We are committed to helping them pursue their dreams of entering the medical field and ultimately improving the health and wellbeing of the communities they serve.”
SOFtoSOM veterans interested in pursuing medical education are identified using selection protocols developed by Special Operations Forces veterans and “operational psychologists” with experience selecting special-ops servicemembers for NASA programs, according to the Zucker School.
The nonprofit offers candidates mentorship programs and financial assistance, along with “valuable opportunities to conduct research before entering medical school,” the Uniondale-based medical school added.
Through the collaboration, the Zucker School has committed to assisting qualified Special Operations Forces applicants with the medical school application process and providing student-interview opportunities.
Special Operations Forces are comprised of top soldiers from all U.S. military units, specially trained to execute high-stress missions in covert and sensitive environments. Despite this unparalleled dedication, commitment to excellence and demonstrated adaptability, less than 2 percent of military veterans are part of the national medical field, according to the Zucker School.
SOFtoSOM co-founder and Chairman Ricky Ditzel Jr. – a U.S. Army Special Operations flight paramedic currently pursuing a career as a physician – cited several barriers facing Special Operations Forces veterans interested in entering medical fields, starting with a “quiet professional” stigma attached to SOF veterans, who consider it bad form to seek affirmation for their service, or even share stories about their time in the field.
Ricky Ditzel Jr.: Unwavering dedication.
The rigors of special-ops training and the nature of special-ops deployments also interfere with medical-school application processes, according to Ditzel, who said the Zucker School alliance exemplifies his national nonprofit’s important mission.
“In the Special Operations community, we live by the motto, ‘Humans are more important than hardware,’” the SOFtoSOM chairman said in a statement. “This collaboration will enrich the healthcare system by introducing highly skilled and resilient physician-leaders from our SOF veterans.
“We are proud to share this commitment to our people with the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell,” Ditzel added. “The medical school’s unwavering dedication to the communities it serves ensures that together, we will enhance the quality and diversity of healthcare across the nation.”
