AF selects 5 enlisted Airmen for medical prep school

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) -- Five enlisted Airmen have been selected to participate in the inaugural Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program, Air Force Personnel Center officials said April 8.

The program offers enlisted members a chance to attend medical prep school full time for two years, all expenses paid, while maintaining active duty status and full pay and benefits. The program includes coursework in a traditional classroom setting with structured pre-health advising and formal medical college admission test preparation, said Cal Baker, the AFPC program manager.

Selectees include Senior Airman Matthew Little, Staff Sgt. Joseph T. Merfeld, and Tech. Sgts. Kenneth Johnson, Charles Mears and Lindsay Slimski.

Participants will transfer on permanent change of station orders to Bethesda, Md., where they will be attached to the student brigade at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, or USUHS, while attending school in the local area. Following completion of the 24-month program, graduates will be able to apply for acceptance to the USUHS medical school or a civilian medical school of their choice.

According to Baker, the program is open to enlisted Airmen in all career fields who meet eligibility criteria. The next selection board is slated to convene in October, and application package guidance is expected to be available in June.

For more information about developmental opportunities and other personnel issues, go to the myPers website.