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Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise

By Pfc. Rayonne BissantMay 31, 2024

Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise
1 / 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A U.S. Army officer assigned to Madigan Emergency Medicine Residency Program provides security during the annual Madigan Graduate Medical Education Capstone on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 16, 2024. Establishing security plays a vital role in transporting casualties for a surgical operation during the simulated combat events in the Graduate Medical Education Capstone. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) VIEW ORIGINAL
Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise
2 / 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A U.S. Army officer assigned to Madigan Emergency Medicine Residency Program assesses a casualty during the annual Madigan Graduate Medical Education Capstone on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 16, 2024. Assessing a casualty during Tactical Combat Casualty Care allows residents to showcase their ability to adapt techniques learned in the hospital to a field environment. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) VIEW ORIGINAL
Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise
3 / 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Navy Cpt. Jacob Glaser, assigned to Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command, Jacksonville Florida, guides residents on how to conduct a surgical operation on a cadaver during the annual Madigan Graduate Medical Education Capstone on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 16, 2024. Surgical operations for medical officers play a crucial role during field scenarios and give surgical and non-surgical residents an idea of what surgery looks like in a combat field hospital. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) VIEW ORIGINAL
Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise
4 / 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Madigan Emergency Medicine Residency Program assist in a surgical procedure during the annual Madigan Graduate Medical Education Capstone on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 16, 2024. The surgical aspect of the Graduate Medical Education Capstone gives residents the opportunity to work alongside other specialties and services in a simulated field environment. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) VIEW ORIGINAL
Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise
5 / 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Army Maj. Jacob Glaser, assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center, guides residents on how to conduct a surgical operation on a cadaver during the annual Madigan Graduate Medical Education Capstone on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 16, 2024. Surgical operations for medical officers play a crucial role during field scenarios and give surgical and non-surgical residents an idea of what surgery in the field looks like. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) VIEW ORIGINAL
Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise
6 / 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption – U.S. Navy Sailors assist in a surgical procedure during the annual Madigan Graduate Medical Education Capstone on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 16, 2024. The surgical aspect of the Graduate Medical Education Capstone gives residents the opportunity to work with other specialties and services during a simulated field environment. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) VIEW ORIGINAL
Madigan Army Medical Center hosts 2024 GME Capstone Exercise
7 / 7 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A U.S. Army officer assigned to Madigan Emergency Medicine Residency Program provides security during the annual Madigan Graduate Medical Education Capstone on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 16, 2024. Establishing security plays a vital role in transporting casualties for a surgical operation during the simulated combat events in the Graduate Medical Education Capstone. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Rayonne Bissant) VIEW ORIGINAL

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Madigan Army Medical Center residents took part in a Graduate Medical Education Capstone event to demonstrate their medical skills during a diverse set of exercises in a simulated combat environment on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, May 16, 2024.

Familiarization instructor U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Kelly, assigned to Charlie Company, 2nd Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, spoke on the significance of the capstone for the graduating residents.

“This event matters to the residents,” said Kelly. “They spend a lot of time going through hospital care and getting into the field.

“Being able to see how we incorporate that on the battlefield with the healthcare system allows them to get that exposure to hit the ground,” said Kelly.

Residents put their skills to the test with this final exam with a series of physically taxing medical care lanes that took them through different roles of wound stabilization under fire with the help of 1st Special Forces Group and later going through a surgical exercise in a joint force effort.

Graduating resident Soldiers used this exam to understand the differences in care during deployment from the hospital and understand what the duties would look like at the battalion, brigade and field hospital levels, where they fall in with more experienced Soldiers and work in teams.

Cpt. Christina Kim, assigned to 102nd Medical Detachment, Forward Resuscitative and Surgical, shared similar views on the relevance of the capstone for graduates.

“I think every resident needs to have strong motivation, work ethic, and know that what they are doing is very important,” Kim said. “This is not just an exercise, this is real life.”

This is what we do as an Army when it comes to the medical field,” said Kim.

Simulating the downrange scenarios that can arise affords residents the ability to understand what working in a field team on deployment looks like.

Going through this rigorous event, the Soldiers showcased their ability to adapt using their knowledge from the medical field combined with their Soldier skills of patrolling, conducting Tactical Combat Casualty Care, transporting casualties, and using a 9-Line Medical Evacuation Request.

Cpt. Alec Maglione, a resident assigned to Madigan Bravo Company Emergency Medicine Residency Program, echoed the sentiment of the translation of the traditional workplace to the field with not only different branches of the armed forces but other specialties as well.

“This event has helped me be able to work with other specialties,” Maglione said.

“We get to work with one another in the hospital as consults, especially in the emergency room, and that’s kind of the last time we see each other,”Maglione said. “Out here working in the field, we get to see what it would be like on deployment and get to build relationships and bond as Soldiers.”

The cumulative capstone event organized by Madigan Army Medical Center provides the residents an ample amount of opportunities to test their abilities as Soldiers, physicians, and leaders in an operational setting and learn valuable lessons from peers across the armed services.