The United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM) is an internationally renowned center for aerospace medical education and readiness training, graduating approximately 5,000 students annually. Like most clinical education and technical training in the Air Force, USAFSAM education operates with a “firehose method” of instruction, providing high quality and high-volume content over short periods of time to ensure medical career pipelines continue to move quickly to meet the demands of the field. Unfortunately, many students arrive at USAFSAM with few study and test skills and struggle to cope in a rapid, high-paced environment, which can result in low knowledge and skills retention, high student stress, exam failure, and lagging graduation rates. This can also compromise high priority career field pipelines, a problem which is compounded with anticipated surge needs for Great Power Competition (GPC). Recognizing this gap, in 2018 USAFSAM created the Academic Excellence Program (AEP) to focus on improving academic achievement in struggling Airmen and increase the likelihood of students successfully graduating. Composed of subject matter experts in adult education within the USAFSAM Office of the Dean, AEP advisors provide clinical and non-clinical students with skills rarely taught for classroom success, including how to structure study time effectively, the neuroscience behind learning, and test-taking skills. Due to this program’s initial success, in 2022 the AEP evolved into a preventive program aimed at removing barriers for positive student outcomes while simultaneously preparing for GPC and meeting career field needs for Team Aerospace. To evaluate the effectiveness of student outcomes for the AEP’s new focus, a study was conducted from September 2022 to August 2024 examining 38 students, 18 who participate in AEP and 20 who did not use AEP as the control group. Students in the AEP group attended a total of 113 sessions, ranging from one to nine sessions per student, in one of three formats – one-on-one sessions, group sessions, or both. Student exam scores were examined using a linear mixed effects model and two-tail paired T-tests. Comparison of exam scores pre- and post-AEP sessions revealed a significant improvement in overall student scores after participating in the AEP program (<0.001, n=18) with 83.77% of students successfully graduating the course. Students who participated in AEP also saw an average of a 13.26-point increase in subsequent block test scores after attending at least one session of AEP. Moreover, post-AEP scores (M=78%) were significantly higher than pre-AEP scores (M=70%) and move closer to the average score of the control group (M=84%). Students who participated in five or more sessions had significant differences in their exam scores before working with AEP and after (p<0.0001, n=15). Finally, significant exam score changes were found for students who participated in group sessions (p<0.0001, n=3) and group plus individual sessions (p<0.01, n=6) versus those who only attended one-on-one AEP sessions (p=0.13, n=9). The findings of this study suggest that the AEP helps mitigate limitations of USAFSAM's intensive instructional approach by providing targeted support to at-risk students, ultimately enhancing their academic success. By improving graduation rates and student throughput, AEP contributes to GPC by better addressing manpower demands in high-priority AFSCs. Future research directions include assessing the long-term field application of graduates' knowledge and skills. Building on this success, USAFSAM plans to expand AEP by incorporating preventative measures, developing instructor-focused initiatives, and creating train-the-trainer programs to facilitate broader adoption.