JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Washington -- As a German Army Exchange professional, Britta Nikshohrat has spent the last 12 months in the United States learning, sharing experiences, and supporting Regional Health Command-Pacific's (RHC-P) military medical mission, while promoting cooperation between the two countries.
Since January 2018, Nikshohrat has been participating in the Department of Defense's Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program (ESEP), which has afforded her the opportunity to work side-by-side with medical personnel assigned at RHC-P's headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii.
During her one-year tenure, Nikshohrat has learned a lot about military medicine in the U.S. and its contributions to the field of medicine and research. Throughout this exchange process, she has also made meaningful contributions in support of RHC-P's health care and theater security cooperation mission.
"Almost immediately, Britta integrated seemingly effortlessly into our organization and truly enhanced our behavioral health team," said RHC-P's Behavioral Health Clinical Director, Dr. David Brown. "She was key to planning and coordinating the 2018 Behavioral Health Summit that was attended by more than 300 military and civilian clinicians, educators, and leaders," he said.
For Nikshohrat, the hands on experience also served as an opportunity to learn.
"During the summit, I got great insight into the latest developments in academic psychology, and I was able to participate in some psychology-specific education sessions that will help me a lot," she said.
Nikshohrat also spent time supporting the region's Global Health Engagement (GHE) team. She served as the on-island lead organizer for the Uniformed Services University Center for GHE's 2019 Fundamentals of GHE Course. The training focused on developing and implementing GHE education and training to prepare military health system professionals to plan and conduct GHE activities.
"Britta marketed the course throughout the Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Army Pacific public affairs channels, and set-up a process for attendees to register online," said Brad Cogswell, Strategy, Plans and Policy Analyst for GHE. "She also facilitated teleconferences with the Uniformed Services University Center for Global Health Engagement regarding course requirements, and worked with on-island stakeholders to identify the best site for the training."
Additionally, Nikshohrat served as an active member on various task forces that focused on suicide prevention and Veteran's homeless issues and provided contributions to RHC-P's standing meetings and discussions on those topics.
As a reserve officer in the German armed forces, Nikshohrat spent four months deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. One of the most memorable experiences for Nikshohrat during her exchange in the U.S. will be her participation in the Nov. 2 Memorial March, hosted by U.S. Army Health Clinic-Schofield Barracks. The march honored two of Army medicine's fallen behavioral health Soldiers -- one of whom Nikshohrat met during her deployment.
"This was a very emotional event for me," Nikshohrat said. "It was a great honor to participate in, and I will never forget the march or Staff Sergeant Christopher Newman," she said.
As she approaches the end of her exchange tour, Nikshohrat expressed appreciation for her supervisors and the friendships that were developed over the past year. She also thanked the region for the opportunity.
"I am really grateful to the Regional Health Command-Pacific for having me here for a year," she said. What I will remember the most is the friendliness of the people and their Aloha spirit."
The DoD's Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program (ESEP) was established in 1963 and is designed to increase international cooperation between the U.S. and its allies in military research, development and acquisition.
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