Dear Colleagues,
Our medical students wear many hats. They are advocates, health professionals and lifelong learners. Some are also law consultants, determined to help veterans receive the right compensation for their disability claims.
The Veterans Law Clinic was established in 2014 by the MU School of Law, with the sole purpose of helping veterans navigate a tough system to secure claims for disability compensation. The School of Medicine joined as a partner in 2022. Today, law and medical students work together to build the best case and legal theories for each veteran, under the guidance of a physician and an attorney.
For example, a law student might ask about a veteran’s condition and how their time in the military may have caused or affected it. Do they take medication? How do they cope with their injury or illness, and what would the veteran need to improve their quality of life?
The medical student can answer these questions, translate medical terminology and flag anything in the veteran’s medical history that the lawyers may have missed. Working together, the two students can build a robust, strong case – both legally and medically – for the veteran to receive disability compensation.
Since 2014, the clinic has helped secure more than $20 million in disability benefits for more than 1,600 veterans. The expertise of our medical students significantly strengthens the clinic’s ability to advocate for these veterans and help them get the correct compensation.
Our medical students, supervised by our medical faculty, began working in the Veterans Law Clinic in 2022. Since then, 35 medical students have participated in the program and have worked on 42 veterans’ cases. In 2024, we were able to make medical students’ participation a School of Medicine elective for which they can receive credit. The four students in the photograph are the first group of medical students to receive credit for their participation.
While there are a handful of other law schools in the nation with veterans’ assistance programs, ours is the only one in which the medical school and law school collaborate. This is something that’s unique to Mizzou, and I hope others across the nation can emulate our partnership.
As a veteran myself, I am so proud we offer this program to help my fellow servicemen. I am also grateful that our students have opportunities to serve the community and to collaborate with others outside of the School of Medicine. This is true interdisciplinary education. Let us continue to work together to support the communities who need it, fulfilling our mission to save and improve lives.
Sincerely,
Rick Barohn, MD
Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Hugh E. and Sarah D. Stephenson Dean, School of Medicine
rbarohn@health.missouri.edu
