Bridging the Military-Academic Medicine Divide: The Value, Evaluate, and Train Strategic Framework for Physician...

Mounting physician workforce shortages require the development of physicians capable of leading in complex, resource-constrained environments. Academic medicine has overlooked a strategic talent pool: military-affiliated physicians. Despite representing approximately 6% of the U.S. population, veterans account for only 0.4% of U.S. allopathic medical school matriculants excluding the Uniformed Services University. This underrepresentation limits knowledge transfer in areas such as trauma care, disaster response, and system-level leadership. Military service develops competencies including leadership under pressure, team-based decision-making, and resource management, which align with core premedical competencies. This commentary proposes the Value, Evaluate, and Train (VET) framework as an approach to integrate military experience into academic medicine. The framework emphasizes recognizing military experience through institutional support, evaluating applicants using contextualized, competency-based selection, and strengthening training through military-civilian partnerships. Implementing the VET framework offers a strategy to expand the definition of merit while improving access to medicine, workforce preparedness, and national healthcare system resilience.