Military medical services is a career path for a Slippery Rock University graduate that will soon become a concentration at SRU for more students to follow in her footsteps.
When 2nd Lt. Sydney Ryan, ’25, studied at SRU, she was a homeland security major with a minor in Arabic who participated in the U.S. Army ROTC program.
“My major and minor helped me to get a bigger picture for issues pertaining to homeland security, and ROTC helped developed my leadership, flexibility and adaptability,” Ryan said.
After graduation, however, Ryan’s path took what may look like a bit of a departure from her training here at SRU. Ryan joined the Medical Service Corps, a branch of the army that provides a wide range of professional health care services.
“We provide a wide range of medical services, so I get to work with people in all areas of medicine,” Ryan said. “I’m new, so I’m doing something different every month.”
Some of Ryan’s responsibilities have included administering the U.S. Army fitness test, serving as a safety officer at briefing meetings, and other efforts to maintain Army health standards.
For students with interests like Ryan’s, SRU is launching a new military medical service corps focus in the University’s health care administration and management major, starting in the Spring 2026 semester. While this concentration didn’t exist during Ryan’s time at SRU, she said that any students who are currently in her shoes as homeland security majors or ROTC members would benefit greatly from this addition.
Since graduating, Ryan has also started an accelerated nursing program at Carlow University for her bachelor’s degree in nursing in order to receive more formal medical training outside of her work in the Medical Service Corps. This is the kind of instruction that a student who studies health care administration and management with the new medical service corps concentration would already have upon graduating from SRU, better preparing them for a career like Ryan’s.
“I would have unquestionably been more prepared if something like this had been around in my time at SRU,” Ryan said. “While ROTC trains you to be an officer, it doesn’t specifically prepare you to be a medical officer, so combining this concentration with ROTC and homeland security would be great for people like me.”
David Jordan, professor of health care administration and management and department chair, is optimistic about the future and utility of this new concentration.
“This new concentration creates an innovative path for those interested in pursuing a health care related career in one of the United States armed services in the medical corps,” Jordan said. “Students can progress through an Army option that includes health care coursework with ROTC required military sciences courses. Students who want to keep their options flexible regarding which branch they’ll join progress by completing health care courses, lower-division military sciences courses, and other supporting health care work.”
Jordan also notes that this program is only offered by SRU and is easily combined with undergraduate work toward pre-med, pre-physician assistant, pre-physical therapy and pre-occupational therapy.
More information about thehealth care administration and management major can be found on the program’s webpage. More details about the new concentration will be added once the program is launched.
