Summer - United States Special Operations Command

Longer-Term Career Outcomes of Uniformed Services University of the HealthSciences Medical School Graduates: Classes of 1980-1989COL Daniel L. Cohen, USAF MC (Ret.); Steven J. Durning, MD; David Cruess, PhD; COL Richard MacDonald,MC USA (Ret.)Military Medicine May 2008, Vol 173, No 5ABSTRACTBackground: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) F. Edward Hébert Schoolof Medicine exists to provide physicians who will become leaders in military medicine in both war and peacetime.Studying the career accomplishments of graduates who have reached or are near the end of their militarycareer is one way to assess how well USUHS is meeting this societal charge. Methods: Self-reported surveyof all 2,689 USUHS graduates since its inception in 1976. Data were collected with regard to residency completed,additional degrees obtained, leadership positions and rank obtained, deployment experience, and academicaffiliations. Results: Our survey resulted in a 59% response rate (712 of 1,199 respondents) for the matriculatingclasses of 1980-1989 and a 68% (1,822 of 2,689 respondents) total response rate for all graduates. Careeroutcome data were analyzed for graduates of the 1980-1989 classes in this article. For this cohort, the board certificationrate was 99%; 20% obtained additional degrees; 96% have worked as full-time clinicians; 14% receivedbelow-the-zone promotions; 51% had deployed for combat and 42% for humanitarian missions; and 57%continue to hold medical school faculty appointments. Discussion: Many accomplishments, to include highsustained board certification rates from a diverse array of specialties, broad deployment experience, achievementof high leadership responsibilities and senior rank, as well as important contributions to academic medicinewere achieved by these graduates. Our results support that USUHS is accomplishing its societal charge.Air Medical Evacuations of Soldiers Due to Oral-Facial Disease and Injuries,Operations Enduring Freedom/Iraqi FreedomLTC Timothy A. Mitchener, DC USA; Keith G. Hauret, MPT; Edward L. Hoedebecke, DVM; Salima Darakjy,MPH; Bruce H. Jones, MDMilitary Medicine, Volume 174, Number 4, April 2009 , pp. 376-381(6)ABSTRACTThis retrospective study was conducted to assess the nature and causes of serious oral-facial illnessesand injuries among U.S. Army personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004. Information forthis study came from the U.S. Air Force Transportation Regulating and Command & Control Evacuation Systemdatabase for medical evacuations (MEDEVACS) for 2003 to 2004. The study found 327 oral-facial MEDE-VACS out of Iraq (cumulative incidence: 11/10,000 Soldiers per year) and 47 out of Afghanistan (cumulativeincidence: 21/10,000 Soldiers per year), for a total of 374 MEDEVACS. Forty-two percent (n = 158) of all oralfacialMEDEVACS were due to diseases of the oral cavity, salivary glands, and jaw. Another 36% (n = 136) oforal-facial MEDEVACS were for battle injuries, primarily fractures of the mandible, caused by acts of war.Twenty-one percent (n = 80) of oral-facial MEDEVACS were due to nonbattle injuries, primarily fractures ofthe mandible, mainly caused by motor vehicle accidents and fighting.Prehospital Tourniquet Use in Operation Iraqi Freedom:Effect on Hemorrhage Control and OutcomesBeekley, Alec C. MD, FACS; Sebesta, James A. MD; Blackbourne, Lorne H. MD; Herbert, Garth S. MD; Kauvar,David S. MD; Baer, David G. PhD; Walters, Thomas J. PhD; Mullenix, Philip S. MD; Holcomb, John B.MC; Members of the 31st Combat Support Hospital Research GroupJournal of Trauma-Injury Infection & Critical Care. Advances in Combat Casualty Care: Clinical Outcomes fromthe War. 64(2) Supplement:S28-S37, February 2008.ABSTRACTBackground: Up to 9% of casualties killed in action during the Vietnam War died from exsanguination fromextremity injuries. Retrospective reviews of prehospital tourniquet use in World War II and by the Israeli DefenseForces revealed improvements in extremity hemorrhage control and very few adverse limb outcomes when52Journal of Special Operations Medicine Volume 9, Edition 3 / Summer 09