VA Boston Celebrates VA’s Health Professions Education Week

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Academic affiliations play a vital role in meeting Veteran health care needs at VA Boston HCS, which partners with more than 100 academic affiliates, including Harvard Medical School, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston College Connell School of Nursing, Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Tufts University’s Department of Occupational Therapy, and the New England College of Optometry. In all, VA Boston trains more than 2,000 future health professionals annually.

VA trains more than 118,000 future health professionals nationwide each year to fulfill its academic mission. VA’s health professions education programs enhance the quality of, and timely access to, care provided to Veterans at VA. Overseen by the Office of Academic Affiliations, known as OAA, health professions trainees participate in over 7,000 wide-ranging training programs offered at 150 VA health care facilities across the country, making VA the nation’s largest provider of health professions training. Health professions education in VA is conducted through long-standing partnerships with over 1,400 U.S. academic institutions, including 99 percent of the nation’s medical schools.

“VA Boston is proud to celebrate Health Professions Education Week. We want to thank our dedicated health professions trainees, educators, academic affiliates and most of all, our Veterans, without whom VA’s training mission would not be possible,” said Dr. David Topor, VA Boston HCS psychologist and deputy associate chief of staff for education. “Our trainees go on to serve in both VA and non-VA healthcare careers, but the greatest reward of training at VA is serving the Veterans, who have served and sacrificed for all of us.”

Offering training in more than 60 clinical disciplines, VA educates physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, physical and occupational therapists in the latest evidence-based medicine. Over 34,000 of VA’s HPTs come from Minority Serving Institutions, such as Hispanic Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

“Our health professions trainees make invaluable contributions to our Veterans every day,” said Dr. Marjorie Bowman, chief academic affiliations officer for VA. “VA is fortunate to have more than 1,400 academic affiliates who share our theme: passion to learn, power to heal. The academic affiliation partnership model is vital to training future health professionals who care for our Veterans and the nation.”

Learn more about VA’s Health Professions Education Week and VA’s health professions training programs by visiting the OAA website at https://www.va.gov/oaa/ or by watching a brief introductory video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYBDQ_MkRog. 

Winfield Danielson, Public Affairs Officer

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