Military Students & Faculty

Evan Baird

U.S. Army Officer
2015-2019

When I was deciding to figure out what I wanted to do with my life in high school, the Army was a natural decision. After being a member of University of Tennessee’s Army ROTC, I commissioned into the Infantry and served as an officer of 2nd Brigade Combat Team “STRIKE”, 101st Airborne Division for all of my years of service. I served in various positions such as infantry platoon leader and operations officer to the brigade commander. I also deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2016 - 2017 as a platoon leader. It was during this deployment that I realized that my true calling was to become a doctor.

I chose Quillen for many reasons. For starters, they are super veteran-friendly, as is all of East TN. I was also attracted by the small class sizes and the faculty that made you feel that you are more than just an unnamed student. This was a welcomed change from the rank-and-file ways that us veterans are used to. I highly encourage any veteran to apply to Quillen, and can assure you that you will not be disappointed.  

Cece Brown

Army Aviation Officer
2013-2020

I commissioned into the Army as an Aviation officer after earning a bachelors and masters in chemistry at Florida State University. I qualified as a UH60 pilot in 2013 and served as an aviation liaison officer and platoon leader with the 5-158 GSAB at Katterbach, Germany, from 2014 to 2015. I got married to a fellow aviator in 2014 and we moved to Fairbanks, Arkansas, in 2015. There, I served as a platoon leader and Battalion S4 with the 1-52 GSAB. In 2017, we bought our first house in Washington where we were stationed until 2020. Over my career as an aviator, I also spent time in Japan, Italy and California. My husband is still serving as an AH64 pilot and just made Major. We have two awesome dogs and our household spans multiple states and time zones. 

Luke Dawson

Sergeant, United States Marine Corps (2010-2015)
Cryptologic Linguist – Arabic

My name is Luke Dawson, and I am a medical student attending Quillen College of Medicine via the VA’s Veterans Healing Veterans Medical Access & Scholarship Program (VHVMASP). I was recruited to the Marine Corps out of Rochester, New York, and served for five years as an Arabic Cryptologic Linguist in the United States and at overseas locations. The Marine Corps provided me an arena to push myself physically and mentally, and instilled in me the self-efficacy necessary to pursue a career in medicine. My military service also provided me with the means to attend medical school via the VA’s VHVMASP, and I look forward to future service as a VA physician upon completion of my training. The large proportion of student-veterans and future military physicians among the student body at the Quillen College of Medicine speaks to the institution’s dedication to diverse patient-centered care.

Peter Jones

Sergeant First Class (Ret.)
U.S. Army (2005-2019)

Medicine became an interest of mine over the span of about a decade. Biology in high school was fascinating to me and post high school I wanted to learn more about human biology. That lead to my decision to become an EMT. With the motivation of 9/11, I joined the Army in February 2005 as a Combat Medic (91W) to serve our nation with my passion for prehospital care.

My first duty station was in Ft. Hood, Texas, with 1/12 CAV, 1st Cavalry Division in 2005. I was able to gain experience in a clinical setting and really sparked my desire to learn more about medicine. In 2006, I volunteered and was selected to attend Special Forces Medical Sergeant (SFMS) Qualification Course and receive Korean language training at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. After graduation, I was assigned to 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) (1SFG) and served in Okinawa, Japan, at Torii Station on Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 1113 from July 2009 to December 2012, and then to Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) on ODA 1335 from January 2013 to July 2015. In those 6 years, I went to Afghanistan twice and the Philippines once for combat tours and many other non-combat tours and training in Central, South, Southeast and East Asia. It was during the first tour to Afghanistan where we were treating the local population, and I realized I wanted to do medicine full-time as a physician after the military.

My last assignment brought me back to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, in August 2015 to train fellow Green Berets. I made time to finish my associate's degree in general education and bachelor’s in health science by taking night classes while working full-time. Unfortunately, injuries had caught up with me and I had to have one of my hips replaced in July 2017, with the other to be done in the future. Subsequently, I was medically retired in March 2019. This was unexpected, but also allowed me to go to medical school earlier in my life. I had already been accepted at other schools when QCOM sent their acceptance. QCOM’s performance was not the only factor that helped me make the decision to attend this fine institution. The sincere care for students, the positive atmosphere and a veteran-friendly culture made difference, not just in choosing a superb program, but making a successful and healthy transition from military to civilian life.

If you are thinking about applying to QCOM - especially veterans - just do it!

Wenjian (Vincent) Tian

2LT | Army

Born and raised in a big city in central China, I came to the United States at the age of 18 for college. I graduated from Penn State University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a minor in the Japanese. By coincidence, I stumbled upon a rare opportunity to enlist in the U.S. Army as an F1 international student just before graduation. Naturalized upon graduating from basic training in 2015, I couldn’t be more proud to serve my country as one of America’s newest citizens. I was stationed in Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Washington, at Madigan Army Medical Center from 2016 to 2020. While working as an ophthalmic technician at JBLM, I went to Japan twice to support U.S.-Japan bilateral exercises as a Japanese linguist. I was then stationed in Camp Casey, South Korea, from 2020 to 2021 just before I attended Quillen. I attended five interviews while in South Korea and dropped all other applications and offers before I committed to attending Quillen. I’m currently attending Quillen via Army’s Health Profession Scholarship Program (HPSP).

For many of you who are reading this right now, I was in your shoes just three years ago. Reading the stories from Quillen’s veterans on this page is one of the biggest deciding factors for me to attend Quillen. For an immigrant who doesn’t always have family around, the military family, especially Quillen military family, is the de facto family to me. Similar to other veteran students’ experiences, applying to medical school was extremely hard while on active duty and during the COVID-19 outbreak. I applied for two cycles and was finally accepted in the second cycle while stationed overseas. It was the stories from my brothers and sisters in arms that inspired me and kept me pushing through these two cycles. You can do this and you are always welcome to be a part of the Quillen military family!