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<\/a>Iida Jacobsen, OTR\/L, a trainee at Minneapolis VA, describes the training she receives at a VA medical center and how she feels about working with Veterans. VA educates more than 122,000 health professions trainees across the nation every year, making VA the largest provider of health professions education in the nation.<\/p>\nAnother reason Jacobsen was drawn to VA is it offered her an opportunity to train across multiple disciplines within the medical center\u2014an experience she described as one of the unique advantages of VA training.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that I was able to shadow the pain clinic, inpatient mental health and spinal cord, was a really valuable experience and really speaks to the learning opportunities that VA provides for its students and trainees,\u201d said Jacobsen.<\/p>\n
More than 122,000 trainees in over 60 disciplines trained this year in VA medical centers across the nation, receiving these unique training opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Michelle Berg, a nurse practitioner resident at Minneapolis VA, the various features of the training programs are reassuring and help build confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn clinical, you might order tests, or you might order imaging, but you rarely saw the end result of those,\u201d said Berg. \u201cAnd so, entering into a residency gives kind of a safety net underneath, after starting to practice and have that additional support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veterans enjoy working with trainees<\/p>\n
VA trainees often say Veterans enjoy being a part of the learning experience. Jacobsen recalled multiple Veterans saying they hope they are helping her learn something.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really think it speaks to the Veteran population because they still have this definite, deep fulfillment of service to students, to civilians. I really felt a deep sense of gratitude that they still wanted to be a part of the next generation of trainees,\u201d said Jacobsen.<\/p>\n
Laurie Humiston, the Occupational Therapy Fellowship Coordinator for Jacobsen\u2019s program, echoes those experiences in her daily work and believes it is the best part of her job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get to connect trainees and Veterans through their growth journeys, gaining skills that help each other,\u201d said Humiston. \u201cThe trainees become more advanced practice providers, and Veterans get to benefit from that teaching. They also get to see how that teaching happens, and so we all approach that growth journey as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veterans benefit overall<\/p>\n
Berg is thankful for the profound experience gained from working with VA as she transitions into practice as a nurse practitioner. She is glad that the skills she learned will help her to take better care of Veterans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking with the Veterans and understanding their special needs has been something that no matter where my career takes me, I will now provide better care of Veterans overall,\u201d said Berg.<\/p>\n
For Jacobsen, her love of working with VA stretches beyond the high-quality training. She believes in VA\u2019s mission of caring for those who have served in the nation\u2019s military and encourages others to do so as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always a deep advocate for VA and for the Veteran population,\u201d said Jacobsen. \u201cSo, I would say if this ever reaches any others who are wanting to give VA a shot\u2014let this be a message to make that a reality. It\u2019s an experience that you won\u2019t regret, and VA really has a lot of opportunities and experiences that would aid in any student\u2019s learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
VA partners with more than 1,450 academic institutions throughout the nation, making VA\u2019s health professions education program the largest in the United States. These programs, overseen by the Office of Academic Affiliations<\/a>, are shaping the next generation of health care professionals for VA and the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veterans and trainees\u2019 approach \u2018growth journey as a family\u2019 At Minneapolis VA, health professions trainees are learning skills…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,107095,85,46,107096,107097],"class_list":{"0":"post-184796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-health-professions-trainees","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-office-of-academic-affiliations","13":"tag-visn-23"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IidaJacobsen_r1.png\")
<\/a>Iida Jacobsen, OTR\/L, a trainee at Minneapolis VA, describes the training she receives at a VA medical center and how she feels about working with Veterans. VA educates more than 122,000 health professions trainees across the nation every year, making VA the largest provider of health professions education in the nation.<\/p>\n