School of Medicine to Join Forces with First Lady’s Initiative to Serve Veterans

First lady Michelle Obama announced a new initiative that will bring the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine and the TTUHSC Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and 128 other medical schools across the country together to create a new generation of doctors, medical schools and research facilities that will ensure veterans and their families receive care worthy of their sacrifice.

Joining Forces, a major coordinated effort, was created by Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, along with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM).

The initiative aims to educate, challenge and spark action from all sectors of society to provide veterans and military families with support.

“I’m inspired to see our nation’s medical schools step up to address this pressing need for our veterans and military families,” Obama said.  “By directing some of our brightest minds, our most cutting-edge research, and our finest teaching institutions toward our military families, they’re ensuring that those who have served our country receive the first-rate care that they have earned.”

Steven L. Berk, M.D., TTUHSC executive vice president, provost and School of Medicine dean, said the School of Medicine pledged to leverage their missions in education, research and clinical care to train the nation’s physicians to meet the unique health care needs of the military and veterans.

“We are committed to reviewing our medical school curriculum, particularly with respect to the teaching of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries,”

Berk said. “We will be working with other medical schools to determine best practices and perhaps participate in collaborative research that would benefit veterans. We want to continue and improve our strong relationships with our veterans hospitals and clinics.”

Together, the AAMC and AACOM are committing to improve the medical education, the laboratory research and clinical care to better address the health issues that military families face.

Specifically, these organizations are committing to:

• Train medical students as well as current physicians, faculty and staff to better diagnose and treat veterans and military families.


• Develop new research and clinical trials on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.


• Share their information and best practices with one another through a collaborative Web forum created by the AAMC.

The initiative focuses on key priority areas – employment, education and wellness while raising awareness about the service, sacrifice and needs of America’s veterans and military families. More information is available at www.JoiningForces.gov.

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