The VA Nursing Academic Partnerships (VANAP) is another initiative to promote VA as an educator and employer of health professionals. Comprised of 18 competitively selected nursing schools in the nation and the VA, VANAP’s objective is “increasing recruitment and retention of VA nurses as a result of enhanced roles in nursing education.” The New Mexico VA Health Care System, the hospital I practice at, had the honor of being awarded one of these partnerships, and I have been encouraged to see many student nurses choose the training track at the VA and express interest in employment.
According to a nurse at the Oregon Health & Science University VA partnership, “One thing I learned that I did not expect was about the wars the clients had served in. I gained a greater respect for our men and women in the service past and present…I have now an understanding of not only the physical, but also the mental and emotional effects war has on an individual.”6 It is important to realize that even if physicians and nurses in training do not ultimately enter the VA workforce, they still leave their educational experience with a more empathic understanding of the health care needs of veterans.
The salience of the third endeavor, however, has not been widely recognized. In March, Secretary Robert McDonald spoke at a meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Deans. His speech traced the history of academic collaboration with the VA; acknowledged the bureaucratic, information technology, and other challenges faced by the VA and its academic affiliates; and reaffirmed the VA’s commitment to academic partnerships. He recognized the significant and lasting contributions the relationship with academic medical centers has had on the care of veterans and the community for decades. His remarks concluded with a vision of the potential the partnership has to transform health education and the delivery of care in the years to come. But perhaps the most hopeful remarks in the speech came not from Secretary McDonald but from the comments of medical students who had rotated at the San Diego VAMC, which he shared:
“The emphasis on teaching was fantastic, and far superior to most other rotations.”
“The vets were a wonderful patient population who really allowed us a great opportunity to learn.”
“The VA is the best place for medical students to work.”7