Cedrick Chiu and Marissa Mason
In 2022, medical students Marissa Mason and Cedrick Chiu saw a need among fellow students who were seeking a community of peers with an interest in military medicine and in pursuing the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program. Together they launched the Military Medicine and VA Interest group at UMass Chan Medical School and serve as co-presidents.
“The military will pay for your medical school and give you a stipend, but the biggest benefit of the health professions scholarship program is you’ll enter a field that will allow you to fulfill your obligation, experience things that you wouldn’t ever see as a civilian and serve your country,” Chiu, an ensign in the U.S. Navy, said.
Nine T.H. Chan School of Medicine students—seven of whom are members of the Military Medicine and VA Interest group—received a health professions scholarship for the 2023-2024 academic year.
There are 50 members of the Military Medicine and VA Interest group, which has three primary goals: connect health professions scholarship students and its other members with resources and health professions scholarship alums from UMass Chan; provide connections and experiences with the VA; and work with physicians with military experience to provide insight on military medicine and trauma.
“I think serving in the military is an incredible service. I get to take care of the men and women who do extraordinary work that I could never do myself. From that perspective, I’m going to get a lot out of my service time,” said Mason, a fourth-year medical student and second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
Mason grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut, and earned her undergraduate degree in biology of global health from Georgetown University. She credits a pair of U.S. Army retirees in Louisville, where she lived prior to med school, who suggested she apply for the health professions scholarship.
“My grandfather served in World War II, but otherwise I was pretty unfamiliar with the military and what they could offer,” Mason said. “When I got into UMass Chan, I applied for the scholarship, and when I got it, I knew it was the right fit for me.”
Mason was commissioned into the U.S. Army in 2021 and is applying to do her military residency in psychiatry.
Chiu, from San Diego, attended Boston College for his undergraduate education, earning degrees in biology and sociology. He received a health professions scholarship from the U.S. Navy and was commissioned as an officer in the summer of 2022 before coming to UMass Chan.
“There’s a big Navy presence in San Diego and I grew up seeing that. I knew I wanted to go to medical school, and I knew I wanted to serve the Navy as a physician,” said Chiu, a third-year medical student who hopes to pursue a military residency in surgery.
The group’s faculty advisor is Anne Larkin, MD, associate professor of surgery and vice provost and senior associate dean for educational affairs at UMass Chan. Dr. Larkin was a recipient of the health professions scholarship and served as a general medical officer at the Naval Air Station Sigonella and as Ship’s Surgeon on the U.S.S. George Washington aircraft carrier.
The group will meet next on Thursday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. in the Lamar Soutter Library conference room. Laura Grant, PsyD, assistant professor of psychiatry and VA psychologist, will speak on inclusivity in the VA healthcare system.
For more information about the Military Medicine and VA Interest group, contact Marissa Mason (marissa.mason@umassmed.edu) or Cedrick Chiu (cedrick.chiu@umassmed.edu).
