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To celebrate the success of AZCOM’s military students, the College’s Student Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons (SAMOPS) hosted their annual Military Match party on December 15, 2023. This party celebrated the students who participated in the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) and found out that day where they would be attending residency. 

Many of ��ɫ��Ƶ’s graduate healthcare programs participate in an annual residency match process, but AZCOM’s military students take part in a match process that is a little different than everyone else’s.

Before they even begin medical school, aspiring osteopathic students who are also interested in serving in our country’s military can enter the HPSP to aid with the tuition and living expenses of medical school. 

The HPSP offers a variety of scholarships in which students select a branch of the military to serve in – Air Force, Army, or Navy – and begin training to become part of the military in medicine community. Upon acceptance to both their choice of medical school and the HPSP, students are commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army or Air Force or as an Ensign in the Navy. Students then proceed with their schooling and attend officer training, as required by their branch of service.

The summer before their fourth year, students begin applying for and ranking their desired residencies. They can choose to pursue either a military or civilian residency. 

Alexandra Sween (AZCOM ’26) explains the process of the military match in detail, stating, “HPSP students match in December, prior to the civilian match in March. Some students will be civilian-deferred and will still participate in the civilian match, while those who match into military residencies will remove their applications from the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). This helps put in perspective how many civilian spots are given back to the regular application pool after December's military match.”

If students choose a civilian residency, they proceed with the civilian match and find out their results on Match Day in March. At graduation, all military students are promoted to Captain in the Army or Air Force or Lieutenant in the Navy, and then they proceed to their residency.

Alexandra recalls that the SAMOPS match party was, “a very exciting moment for us all, especially making the anticipation grow for those of us who haven’t graduated yet and hope to be matching into military programs in the future.”

AZCOM’s Class of 2024 Military match statistics are below:
•    Army (5), Navy (4), Air Force (6)
•    Transitional Year (3), Family Medicine (3), Emergency Medicine (4), Internal Medicine (1), Psychiatry (2), Anesthesiology (1), PGY-1 only General Surgery (1)