Upstate's Veterans | SUNY Upstate

Upstate takes pride in its relationships with the Armed Forces and our activities that improve the lives of those who serve. We are grateful for these opportunities: from our support of training with Fort Drum personnel on Blackhawk medical transports and advanced trauma life support, to our residency and physician relationship with our neighbor the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, to our research in relevant areas of health and wellness."

Dr. Mantosh Dewan

Issak Hernandez: Veteran finds working at Upstate draws on skills learned in the Army

It’s been “a bit of a journey,” from the Army to Upstate Medical University said Issak Hernandez, a HRIS Application Analyst for the Human Resources Department.

Following seven years in the Army, during which he was deployed multiple times, including to Afghanistan and the Baltic states, the California native earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Syracuse University.

Following graduation, he worked for a large supply redistribution company in their IT department as a Product Information Management Systems Analyst, then back to SU where he worked with the Office of Veterans and Military Affairs and the Institute for Veteran and Military Families.

In 2023, he joined Upstate in the Human Resources Department. His work, he explained, involves making sure the software HR uses serves the department’s needs. When a problem arises, he is the liaison between HR and the Upstate Information Management and Technology Department.

As a veteran employed at Upstate, Hernandez sees organizational similarities between the university and the Army, where departments need to work together. “You’re working with different units, and different functional areas to be able to accomplish the mission at hand. That's essentially what we're trying to do here at Upstate. Whether you're working in IT, or you're a nurse in the emergency department, you have a mission at hand that you're trying to accomplish with your teammates,” he said.

“I think in the military, working with the different teams that you're a part of sets you up to succeed in a place like Upstate.”

Succeeding at Upstate is something Hernandez would like to see more veterans do. Along with his work at Syracuse University, he’s been an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post 3146 in Mattydale, NY. In fact, he was vice commander of the post from 2022 to 2023.

His advice to those who have served: think of the skills they have. “It’s about taking those existing soft and hard skills that we already have from the service, setting clear goals and applying them strategically to our careers now.”

Careers at Upstate

“I think in the military, working with the different teams that you're a part of sets you up to succeed in a place like Upstate.”

Veteran finds Marine training helps him succeed in the classroom

“Adapt and overcome,” Anthony Lisi was told during his four years in the United State Marine Corps. It was advice that has served him well as a student working toward a bachelor’s degree in Medical Imaging Science/Radiography at Upstate Medical University’s College of Health Professions.

Lisi, 32, joined the Marines after high school and served four years, assigned two tours of duty in Afghanistan. A wall in Lisi’s Liverpool, NY, home testifies to his pride in being a Marine: a wall is devoted to framed documents, photos and souvenirs of his time in the Corps.

He returned home to Central New York following this time in the Marines, and worked with his father’s construction company. But he recalls knowing that he could not do that kind of work for his whole life, and he had a continuing interest in bones.

“When I was a kid, I got a finger slammed in the hinge side of a door,” he said. He had an X-ray and, was intrigued. “How did they get that image? How did they see through my skin?” he wondered. Bones became a theme of sorts for the young Lisi, and he was intrigued by skeleton and bones as Halloween decorations.

As Lisi headed toward the end of his 20s, he found himself again thinking about bones and X-rays, deciding he wanted to pursue the field right here in Central New York. Academic demands were a concern because he did not excel as a high school student.

When confronted by increasingly difficult material in a college physics class he took at Onondaga Community College knowing it was a prerequisite for the Upstate X-ray program, Lisi followed his Marine training. He adapted and overcame by finding four other students with whom he could study and succeed in the course. Like him, they are now studying at Upstate’s College of Health Professions.

There is a school-life balance Lisi finds himself working to maintain. As a student in his 30s with a spouse and a home, he finds it challenging, “but my wife and I are making it work, and we know that it's only a season and it's setting us up for success in our future.”

That future might very well include working at the VA Hospital in Syracuse, Lisi said. There, he would be helping supply medical care to those, like him, who have served in the U.S. military. “I’ve always had a heart for veterans,” he said.

Veterans Educational Benefits

“It's setting us up for success in our future.”

Caitlin Flanagan: Aiming to do more, Army reservist studying laboratory science

Growing up in Eastern Massachusetts, Caitlin Flanagan got to hear stories from her grandfather, a World War II veteran who served in the Army Air Corps. “I wish I had recorded him talking.” she said during a break from clinicals. “He really shaped the way I thought about society and how I wanted to serve.”

On April 15, 2013, the idea of joining the military became clearer to her. That was the day terrorists bombed the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Flanagan felt a direct connection: Her father worked within sight of the bombing scene. She later learned that one of the bombers had lived down the hall from her brother when he was a college student. And she took to heart Boston Red Sox hitter David Ortiz’s words after the bombing, “this is our (expletive) city. And nobody’s going to dictate our freedom.”

Caitlin Flanagan in the lab with a microscope

“I knew that if something like that was to happen again, I would want to be able to do something about it. I would want to be able to serve and make it right,” she said.

Flanagan joined the Army in 2022, leaving college behind for the moment. “I felt I could do more.” More, in this case, meant becoming a combat medic. Those are the people who accompany soldiers on their duties, even combat duties.

In her time in the service, Flanagan’s postings have included Mongolia where she went this summer. “There were 20 UN nations there and I primarily was responsible for teaching the Combat Lifesaver Course to these different nations.” Combat Lifesaver is level below what combat medics can provide, but designed to be enough, she said, to prolong a soldier’s life so a medic can get there.

With a posting to Fort Drum, in Northern New York, Flanagan was able to again “do more,” pursuing a degree in Medical Laboratory Science at Upstate Medical University College of Health Professions. Not many institutions offer the degree, so she felt fortunate when Upstate brought her in for an interview late in the admissions cycle and welcomed her into the program. “There was one spot left for the program and luckily I got in.”

Instructors in her program have proven very helpful at making it possible for Flanagan to manage being a student with being a soldier. “A lot of them are very accommodating and will allow me to take exams a few days early if I need to or will work with my schedule to get me in during lunch to finish up some assignments so I can leave earlier that day for Army duties.”

For Flanagan, the appeal of Medical Laboratory Science is the ability to see the “science behind the medicine.” Students learn anatomy and physiology and about the biochemical reactions that happen in the body, she explained. “If we see any type of lab result that's abnormal, we have to be able to understand why. Is it because the patient's actually abnormal, or is it because the instrument is not functioning or anything like that?”

Flanagan does not expect to end her education with a degree in Medical Lab Science. Looking to her future, she is thinking about becoming a PA or maybe an MD/DO.

Veterans AFFairs Coordination

“I felt I could do more.”

Outside Resources for Veterans

Upstate Medical University enjoys a strong link to serving the Armed Forces. Upstate's largest clinical partner is the nearby Veterans Administration Medical Center, where two-thirds of Upstate's medical students have had a clinical training experience. Upstate also has a developing relationship with Fort Drum and the Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization. These sites offer information and resources for veterans and their families:

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers information on benefit programs and has a special section for students. It also hosts a home page detailing Survivor Benefits.
Student Veterans of America (SVA) is a coalition of student veterans groups from college campuses across the United States. Upstate is forming its own Student Veterans Club.
Fort Drum 10th Mountain Division, U.S. Army installation, Watertown NY
The VA Medical Center, Syracuse, is a 106-bed general medical and surgical facility.
The Onondaga County Veterans Services Agency obtains funding, medical treatment or nursing home care for eligible veterans, their dependents or survivors.
Addiction Resource helps veterans address substance abuse issues.
Clear Path for Veterans: serves as a single point of contact for veterans, military members and their families.
Syracuse Vet Center: has information about the local Vet Center and links to programs.
From The Ground Up Therapeutic Horsemanship, Inc.: provides Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies.
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion works to ensure a campus environment that respects and values the diversity of all who work, learn and receive care at Upstate Medical University.