{"id":150967,"date":"2026-02-16T14:24:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967//?p=150967"},"modified":"2026-02-24T13:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:57:39","slug":"ucf-medical-students-to-care-for-u-s-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967//ucf-medical-students-to-care-for-u-s-veterans/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967//","title":{"rendered":"UCF Medical Students to Care for U.S. Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two future UCF-built physicians will continue their medical training after graduation at top military residency programs across the country, caring for our nation/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u2019s heroes./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

Arielle Patterson and Jemual Shaylor /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u201921, members 色花堂/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u2019s M.D. Class of 2026, matched at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Naval Medical Center San Diego, respectively./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

Both are recipients of the military/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u2019s Health Professions Scholarship, which covers tuition and living expenses for medical students who agree to serve their country for one year for each year of scholarship./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

Walter Reed-Bound/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

Patterson is focused on improving health through physical activity, specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u201cAs a doctor who is really passionate about fitness and physical medicine and rehabilitation, I want to really inspire the next generation of younger people to live healthier lives, earlier,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u201d she says./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

She also wants to expand access to healthcare and encourage more students from medically under resourced communities to enter the field of medicine. Research shows that patients have better outcomes when they feel they can connect to their physician’s personal background./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u201cThere/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u2019s a lot of times in medical school where we feel alone, or like the only ones who have gone through this, but so many people have done this before,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u201d she says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u201cHopefully I can help bring us a little bit more together./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

Patterson has already begun working toward that goal, serving as director for Region IV of the Student National Medical Association, a student organization committed to improving access to the medical field and building culturally competent and clinically excellent physicians. She helped organize SNMA/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u2019s annual regional conference that will be in Orlando, February 20-22, bringing together physicians and medical students from across the southeast United States./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n

Patterson completed her bachelor/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u2019s degree in cellular and molecular biology at Hampton University before joining UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/u2019s M.D. Class of 2026. She says she chose the UCF medical school for its youth and innovative, team-oriented culture./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150967/n