Implementation of Military Onboarding for Medical Students and its Effect on Student Confidence in the Health Professions Scholarship Program.

Introduction: Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) medical students typically enter the military with minimal military experience, commissioning specifically for the scholarship. During medical school, the only required training is a 5- to 6-week officer training course, which is neither specific to medicine nor guaranteed to be at the beginning of school, since it can be taken at any time. This lack of prior experience can lead to decreased confidence and understanding of the HPSP, specifically the medical school timeline leading up to the military match process and overall military. Our study investigated the effect of implementing a new military-specific orientation module on improving students' confidence and specific knowledge about the HPSP and military training.

Materials and methods: Two current HPSP students gave a 1-h presentation on the following topics: medical school reimbursements and finances, active duty training, military training, deferrals, the medical school timeline, and the types of medical residencies available associated with the HPSP. The orientation was held for first- and second-year medical students who were either enrolled or interested in the HPSP. The study participants (n = 21) completed a pre- and post-survey that assessed case-based knowledge (12 questions) and students' confidence levels regarding the program (1 question each for the HPSP, overall military, and medical school timeline leading to the residency match). The pre- and post-survey results were analyzed using Fisher's exact test to assess the change in students' confidence and knowledge change after the presentation.

Results: The program significantly improved students' confidence in understanding the HPSP (P = .0004), military (P = .003), and medical school timeline leading to the residency match (P = .002). Our study also significantly improved participants' knowledge regarding reimbursements for medical school supplies (P = .041) and board exams (P = .001), active duty definition (P = .039), and deferment because of failure (P = .010) or fellowship (P = .025).

Conclusion: Overall, the students felt more confident regarding the HPSP and showed improved knowledge after the orientation program. We found higher baseline knowledge regarding active duty tours, which their coordinators communicate well with HPSP students. Similar orientation programs could effectively improve the onboarding process of incoming HPSP students and those interested in applying for HPSP across multiple medical schools. Such programs can improve long-term student satisfaction and the duration of service following the minimum service commitments. Future research with a larger sample size and prospective design is needed to understand the long-term effects of this increased confidence on overall program satisfaction and military career.