Former U.S. Air Force Air Traffic Controller Now Reaches New Heights as Family Doctor
Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Lindsay Slimski was the first and only female member of the first cohort of the Uniformed Services University Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program. The former U.S. Air Force air traffic controller overcame adversity to become a military doctor.
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Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Lindsay Slimski has never let life’s challenges stop her from achieving her dreams of pursuing medicine. She shares her story of resilience in the face of challenges, and her unique approach to becoming a military doctor through the Uniformed Services University’s Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program. (Photo courtesy of Health.mil) |
December 10, 2025 by Robert Hammer, MHS Communications (Originally posted on Health.mil)
The sky was never the limit for Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Lindsay Slimski — it was only the beginning.
After a difficult childhood, she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 2005 — helping planes take off but never leaving her lifelong dream behind. A unique program from the Uniformed Services University (USU) would take her there.
A turbulent upbringing, a new start
In her youth, she lived with extended family, friends, “moving around from home to home, going to school, working, getting straight A’s, but on my own. It was just wherever I could get support,” she said.
As her mother struggled with mental health challenges, Slimski went to “the hospital with her and watched how supportive the medical people were … every step of the way. Seeing the length that people were going to, to help somebody in need really stuck with me.”
Through that experience, she started developing her passion to help people. “I just wanted to bring it forward and help in other ways. Going to medical school was always my dream.”
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Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Lindsay Slimski was the first and only female member of the first cohort of USU's EMDP2. The former U.S. Air Force air traffic controller overcame adversity to become a military doctor. (Photo courtesy of Health.mil) |
She tried college, but “I had no one to look to for any guidance on how to do anything … nobody in my family had ever gone to college. I dropped out after a year and thought, ‘OK, I'll join the Air Force because that kind of seems like a good option for me to jump start.’”
Enlisting in the U.S. Air Force “opened up a lot of doors to me that I don't think I would have known about or even how to pursue,” she said.
She trained as an air traffic controller, a demanding role. “It was a great career. I really enjoyed it because it was fast paced,” she said. “You have to be able to think quickly, process information, and change plans. I always had one thought: ‘Maybe one day I could use this to figure out how to become a doctor.’”
While serving at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Slimski took college classes and got a degree in aeronautics. She also took prerequisite medical school coursework but working night shifts and rotating schedules made completing it impossible. Then she read an article about a new program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences called the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program, known as EMDP2.
The highly competitive program is a two-year academic journey towards medical school, designed to help promising, motivated enlisted personnel from across the military services become future military doctors. EMDP2 offers an intensive pre-medical program, mentoring, and Medical College Admission Test preparation. The program also allows service members to maintain their current rank, pay and benefits while going to school full-time at George Mason University’s Prince William County Campus in Virginia.
“As soon as I saw it, I thought it sounded like the perfect program for me because it would solve these issues. I could finish this,” she said.
She applied and was accepted. While eight months pregnant Slimski began school as the first and only woman in the program’s inaugural 2014 class of 10 students.
“It was all men that first year, except for me,” she said. “It just felt like a normal military experience, because a lot of times you end up being the only female.”
Two weeks into the program, she gave birth to her daughter, Kailani. “I ended up taking a week off with the newborn and then played catch-up basically for that week because it is such a rigorous schedule,” Slimski said. Her mother-in-law stepped in to help while her husband, Donald, an air traffic controller himself, was stationed several hours away and then on a remote assignment, so she was able to complete pre-medicine classes with her cohort.
The EMDP2 provided “a much stronger bond” than other preparatory programs, she felt, and “everybody feels like they're connected, and they want other people to succeed and are just very supportive and making sure they can succeed. Honestly, it was pretty incredible.”
She also went to Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama for commissioned officer training. “I learned about the leadership role, but I'm not really big at leading drills because I really don't have that loud, projecting voice. But I got more leadership focus, so that was more interesting and fun.”
Slimski was accepted into medical school at USU while pregnant with her second daughter, Ellayah, and caring for Kailani and her two stepchildren. While juggling family life and relocating, she credited the program with setting her up for success. “The program was a really good, solid foundation for medical school. They walked us through all of the application steps, so you can check the boxes. It was foolproof.”
Family medicine with purpose
When it came time to select her specialty, Slimski chose family medicine. “Family medicine is really great in that it’s kind of a little bit of everything,” she said.
Slimski, a mother of two and a stepmom, is now a Military Health System family medicine physician with the 1st Special Operations Medical Group - Hurlburt Field, Florida. She cares for active duty service members while supporting high operational demands.
“It’s really rewarding because there is a really high-ops tempo here and … they really do push the mission and readiness,” she said. “I really do enjoy it a lot. It’s challenging.”
Slimski said her enlisted background and an “ingrained” sense to complete the mission has shaped her success in the medical field.
“We have an extra military bearing and realization that what we do has an effect on people and we know how to carry forward. Basically, we know what we’re supposed to do when we’re supposed to do it,” she said. “I think (service members) have more of a deeper understanding of the fact that what they do has an impact in the long run.”
Yet it’s more than just fulfilling mission requirements for Slimski — it’s about resilience in the face of adversity.
“There are a lot of things that can happen throughout our lives, and you can’t really let things hold you back,” she said. “You just have to keep that mindset, no matter what happens and think, ‘I’m going to push myself to move forward. The opportunities are there. You have to go for it.”
