Veteran Resources and Support

STUDENT EXPERIENCES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Veteran Resources and Support

Through its U.S. Military Institutional Partnership, scholarship opportunities, and ongoing support for veteran-led initiatives, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has emerged as a top medical school for veterans. We were among the first to simplify the medical school application process for active-duty personnel, and since initiating the U.S. Military Institutional Partnership, we have built a large, diverse, and vibrant population of veterans on campus.

Representing the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard, these students have in turn found an encouraging and supportive home—one that expects them to continue to lead and serve in medical school and beyond. From our MedVets community to the Yellow Ribbon Scholarship Program, plus other scholarships available to our veterans, to care and training opportunities at the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, we invite you to explore the dynamic resources we continue to cultivate for this unique population of Icahn Mount Sinai students.

Icahn Mount Sinai Student Veterans Create Refugee Mental Health Clinic

After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, several student veterans at Icahn Mount Sinai searched for ways to support the growing refugee population in New York City. In collaboration with residents and faculty throughout the Mount Sinai Health System, in October 2021, these students partnered with a non-governmental organization to lead a pop-up medical clinic that helped more than 20 refugees.

These student veterans then looked for more ways to provide quality care to New York City refugees. In areas of support that non-governmental organizations and other medical organizations could provide, refugee mental health quickly became a key concern. Our student veterans responded by creating a Refugee Mental Health Clinic that partners with the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership to provide cognitive behavior therapy to refugees. The clinic has now provided care to both Afghan and Ukrainian patients and will continue to grow to support more refugees in the future.

James Brooks

“The Institutional Partnership is just one of many ways Icahn Mount Sinai shows its commitment to service. On an individual level, it is an amazing benefit for all of us hoping to leave active duty for a career in medicine, as it simplifies part of an otherwise complex transition into civilian life.”

James Brooks

Katrina Nietsch

“Mount Sinai creates an incredible space to learn, grow, and collaborate, while also giving veterans the autonomy to blaze our own trail. Here I have been able to serve in a new capacity, as a leader and someone with unique lived experiences. As a representative of the veteran community, I feel a profound sense of obligation to learn about issues affecting veterans and, in turn, to play a part in teaching others about patients with service-connected medical needs.”

James Brooks

Katrina Nietsch

Tirone Young

“The collaboration between Icahn Mount Sinai and student veterans goes well beyond admission to the medical school—it involves integrating military viewpoints into academic and clinical curricula, fostering future generations of physicians by forming partnerships with service academies, and establishing clinical opportunities with patient populations familiar to our service.”