Dr. Samuel Marthinsen is receiving assistance through the G.I. Bill as he pursues advanced medical training. The new accreditation at Sutter Health will help him support his family while advancing in his career.
A family legacy, the desire to serve his community and the determination to train with “grit.” All are factors that prompted Dr. Samuel Marthinsen to both serve in the U.S. Navy and to pursue a medical career.
In 2019, Dr. Marthinsen joined the Navy because, he says, “I love my country and the ideals it stands for. I wanted to contribute to an organization that allows people here to live with a level of freedom not seen everywhere in the world.”
It is also part of the reason he wanted to become a doctor. The first-year internal medicine resident physician says he wanted “to be part of a profession that gives back to society and helps people in my community and country.”
He’s also proud to be following in the steps of his grandfather, a public health physician who served in the Navy.
Dr. Samuel Marthinsen
Five years after his enlistment and with monetary support from the Navy, Dr. Marthinsen, age 41, is pursuing specialized training at Sutter Health’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center that will provide him the knowledge, tools and techniques to practice the highest-quality medicine in communities big and small.
G.I. Bill Helps Doctors at Teaching Hospitals
Sutter Health was recently accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as an approved Agency for Veterans Education and Training. The accreditation was issued for two Sutter hospitals and over the coming months will expand to all Sutter teaching sites.
The accreditation means Sutter residents and fellows can now access G.I. Bill benefits that help veterans and dependents of those who have served the U.S. military pay for training, including their time completing a physician residency or fellowship program at Sutter.
The G.I. Bill provides additional support to Dr. Marthinsen and his family while he trains in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Knowing my family is thriving and my kids can participate in after-school activities and live full lives allows me to focus on the learning portion of training and will, ultimately, make me a better physician,” says Dr. Marthinsen.
Gratitude for Veterans Serving Our Communities
Today and every day, Sutter Health thanks U.S. veterans everywhere for their service.
Dr. Harish Rengarajan
“To our very own internal medicine resident physician Dr. Samuel Marthinsen, we honor respect and support you! We are so grateful for the steadfast, exemplary commitment you demonstrate to provide our patients and communities with high-quality, compassionate care,” says Dr. Harish Rengarajan, Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency training program at ABSMC.
Edward Fabi is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and Assistant General Counsel for Sutter Health. “Our team at Sutter was honored to work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs so our learners can easily access benefits from the G.I. Bill program,” Fabi says. “The opportunities this approval provides veterans and individuals who are military family members are both life-changing and immeasurable.”
