SAUSHEC continues tradition of excellence

By Daniel J. CalderónJune 23, 2020

Army Capt. Elizabeth Koslow and Air Force Capt. Benjamin Long discuss patients’ cases in the Pediatrics Team Room at Brooke Army Medical Center. Both doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón)
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army Capt. Elizabeth Koslow and Air Force Capt. Benjamin Long discuss patients’ cases in the Pediatrics Team Room at Brooke Army Medical Center. Both doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón) (Photo Credit: Daniel J. Calderón) VIEW ORIGINAL
Army Capt. Mateo Betancourt and Army Capt. Elizabeth Koslow simulate checking on a swaddled infant in the Pediatrics ward at Brooke Army Medical Center. Both doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón)
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army Capt. Mateo Betancourt and Army Capt. Elizabeth Koslow simulate checking on a swaddled infant in the Pediatrics ward at Brooke Army Medical Center. Both doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón) (Photo Credit: Daniel J. Calderón) VIEW ORIGINAL
Army Capt. Mateo Betancourt goes over a patient’s chart with Air Force Capt. Danny Catts and Air Force Capt. James Barry while Air Force Capt. Jessika Weber focuses on the monitor in the Pediatrics ward at Brooke Army medical Center. Each of the doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón)
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army Capt. Mateo Betancourt goes over a patient’s chart with Air Force Capt. Danny Catts and Air Force Capt. James Barry while Air Force Capt. Jessika Weber focuses on the monitor in the Pediatrics ward at Brooke Army medical Center. Each of the doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón) (Photo Credit: Daniel J. Calderón) VIEW ORIGINAL
Army Capt. Mateo Betancourt and Army Capt. Elizabeth Koslow simulate checking on a swaddled infant in the Pediatrics ward at Brooke Army Medical Center. Both doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón)
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army Capt. Mateo Betancourt and Army Capt. Elizabeth Koslow simulate checking on a swaddled infant in the Pediatrics ward at Brooke Army Medical Center. Both doctors completed their residency and graduated from the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in June. (U.S. Army Photo by Daniel J. Calderón) (Photo Credit: Daniel J. Calderón) VIEW ORIGINAL
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – The 2020 San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium, or SAUSHEC, graduation ceremony was scheduled for June 5; however, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the graduation and awards ceremonies were postponed and changed to reflect the safety protocols now in place.

Nearly 300 students completed their curriculum and would have walked the stage this year. However, the SAUSHEC leadership, in coordination with BAMC, the 59th Medical Wing, and the Defense Health Agency, was able to build a graduation ceremony video for play at smaller individual in-person residency program ceremonies so family members and friends could hear from senior leaders and enjoy the day along with the students.

In the ceremony video, the Defense Health Agency’s Director, Army Lt. Gen. Ronald J. Place, took time to congratulate and encourage the graduates from his work location in Washington, D.C.

“The Army, the Air Force, the Navy – they need your talents,” Place told the graduates. “The country needs your talents. In fact, the world needs your talents. The paradigm has shifted. The conditions are different from when you began your residencies. Many of you are about to embark on your first solo assignment – practitioners in your new specialty. And if that’s not enough of an adjustment, you’re assuming these new responsibilities in an unfamiliar world where the health of all of our citizens has an impact, on the economy, on national security, on the delivery of – and access to – healthcare for other conditions and diseases.”

Place reminded the graduates they will be on the front line of ensuring medical readiness for the military around the world, and their leadership and medical training has made them “the most prepared on the planet to operate in this complex environment.” He said the skills they have honed throughout their military careers and during their residency period are critical in an array of arenas.

Retired Air Force Col. Mark True, the SAUSHEC Dean, said he is proud of the graduating students.

“This year’s graduates are ready to face the challenges ahead of them,” True said. “Their program leaders and faculty have ensured this. Unique this year is how the nation will continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which will require out-of-the-box thinking as the way we conduct healthcare has changed as a result. One bright spot about recent events is that we have collectively advanced telehealth capability, such that both, providers and patients, are more comfortable with this mode of care, and our graduates are prepared.”

The graduates are broken down into two basic categories - Graduate Medical Education and Graduate-level Allied Health Education. They consist of Army, Navy, Air Force, and civilian residents.

GME:

  • Army- 87
  • Navy- 2
  • Air Force - 139

GAHE:

  • Army- 30
  • Air Force - 23
  • Civilian- 2

On June 19, SAUSHEC held an outdoor awards ceremony at the Freedom Park Amphitheater, honoring the following graduates and faculty members:

-- Research Awards

Scholarship in Action

  • Maj. Andrew M. Hersh, Pulmonary Critical Care, 1st Quarter
  • Lt. Col. Matthew A. Borgman, Pediatric Intensive Care, 2nd Quarter
  • Lt. Col. Kevin S. Akers, Infectious Disease, 3rd Quarter
  • Matthew W. Reid, PhD, Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center, 4th Quarter

House Staff Hall of Fame

  • Resident: Capt. Grant A. Justin, Ophthalmology
  • Resident: Capt. Donovan S. Reed, Ophthalmology
  • Fellow: Maj. Kathryn J. Lago, Infectious Disease

Commanders’ Awards for Original Medical Research and Quality Improvement

Allied Health

  • Maj. Amy M. Moore, Emergency Medicine PA

Quality Improvement Patient Safety

  • Maj. Lisa M. Angotti, Surgery Critical Care

Resident Primary Care

  • 1st place – Capt. Joshua M. Boster, Internal Medicine
  • 2nd place – Lt. Cmdr. Stephen M. Hughes, Internal Medicine
  • 3rd place – Capt. Hannah L. Gale, Pediatrics

Resident Surgical

  • 1st place – Maj. Tommy A. Brown II, General Surgery
  • 2nd place – Maj. Kaitlin M. Peace, General Surgery
  • 3rd place – Capt. Marshall D. Hill, Ophthalmology

Animal/Basic Science

  • 1st place – Maj. Christopher J. Corkins, General Surgery
  • 2nd place - Capt. Amy M. Reed, Urology
  • 3rd place – Capt. Donovan S. Reed, Ophthalmology

Fellow Clinical

  • 1st place – Maj. Brittanie I. Neaves, Allergy/Immunology
  • 2nd place – Maj. Kathryn J. Lago, Infectious Disease
  • 3rd place – Maj. Joshua C. Anchan, Neonatology

-- Faculty, Trainee and Program Awards

Professionalism Award

  • Col. (ret) Anthony J. Johnson, Ophthalmology
  • Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Award
  • Lt. Col. Sarah N. Bowe, Otolaryngology
  • Lt. Gen. Paul K. Carlton, Jr. Award

Graduate Medical Education Faculty Award

  • Maj. Brit J. Long, Emergency Medicine
  • Col. Gerald Wayne Talcott Award
  • Graduate Allied Health Education Faculty Award
  • Lt. Col. (P) Enrique V. Smith-Forbes, Occupational Therapy
  • Col. Woodson Scott Jones Award

Graduate Allied Health Education Trainee Award

  • Maj. John A. Blue Star, Clinical Health Psychology Fellowship
  • Col. Gail D. Deyle Award
  • Graduate Allied Health Education Program Director Award
  • Maj. Bryan B. Pickens, Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy
  • Maj. John H. Gillespie Award

Graduate Medical Education Intern Award

  • Capt. John P. Marinelli, Otolaryngology
  • Maj. David S. Berry Award
  • Graduate Medical Education Resident Award
  • Capt. Donovan S. Reed, Ophthalmology
  • Col. Donald M. Null Award

Graduate Medical Education Fellow Award

  • Maj. John L. Kiley, Infectious Disease
  • Ms. Ylda A. Benavides Award
  • SAUSHEC Program Coordinator Award
  • Ms. Tracy L. Gruber, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
  • Col. John D. Roscelli Award

Graduate Medical Education Program Director Award

  • Lt. Col. Larissa F. Weir, Obstetrics Gynecology

Gold Headed Cane 2020 Award

  • Col. Jason F. Okulicz, Infectious Disease

According to SAUSHEC leadership, the Gold Headed Cane symbolizes the best academic medicine has to offer in the three arenas that are its focus: patient care, teaching, and clinical research. The original cane was carried from 1689 until l825 by six distinguished British physicians who cared for royalty: Dr. John Radcliffe, Dr. Richard Meade, Dr. Anthony Askew, Dr. William Pitcairn, Dr. David Pitcairn and Dr. Mathew Baillie. It is now prominently displayed in the Royal College of Physicians, London, England.

SAUSHEC’s mission is to “advance military health and readiness through education of physicians and allied health specialists to lead our nation’s Military Health System (MHS) into the future.” It is one of two Department of Defense graduate health education consortia. It is the second largest DoD GME platform for military doctors and the Air Force’s largest. It is also the largest DoD GAHE platform.

SAUSHEC hosts 37 GME specialty programs and 22 GAHE programs. The training programs are located primarily at BAMC and at the 59th Medical Wing’s Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center on JBSA Lackland.