The Doctor is Deployed - LLM Publications

to stabilize them. Medevac helicopterswere able to transfer patients withinfive minutes to the main militaryhospital in Baghdad.“Military triage has gotten better witheach war,” states Park. The mortalityrate is significantly less than any otherwar but the morbidity is significantlyhigher. The body armor of the soldiersis a life saver, but the number ofamputations is much higher.Stateside SupportBack home, Park’s family practiceat North Bend Medical Center istypical: elderly patients with multiplemedical problems. His day is not filledwith trauma or procedures like histime in Iraq or Afghanistan, wherehis patients in general were youngand healthy. When asked about thecontrast between his military andprivate practice, Park says, “in civilianmedicine, you are limited by yourtraining and the specialists available toyou. But in military medicine you areexpected to do it all. It is life and deathfor soldiers.”Park was assigned to a second tourof duty for another three and a halfmonths in Afghanistan in 2006. Hispractice was covered by his fellowfamily practice doctors as well as locumtenens physicians. This maintainedhis practice, and kept his employeespaid. The military tries to compensatephysicians by paying them a basesalary, combat pay and additionalpay based upon years of service andboard certification. For a primary carephysician, he felt the pay was sufficient.However, for a specialist such as anorthopedic surgeon, it might not be.In general, his patients have been loyaland supportive of his commitment.Every time he leaves for a deployment,he does lose patients, but not asignificant number.As of April 10, Park was back inBaghdad providing care at a detentioncenter. He has a daughter who is nowalmost four years old. The first timehe returned, she was afraid of himand didn’t recognize him. With newvideo phone technology such as Skype,however, he feels he will be able tokeep in touch better with her and hisnewborn son. The hardest part of thedeployment is leaving his wife behindto worry about his safety, to take careof the bills, and raise the children.Robert Gerber, MD, one of Park’sfamily practice colleagues, states thatwhen Park is deployed, in generalhis own call days are busier. Alsohe believes Park’s patients are morecomplicated and tend to take moretime. However, Gerber states, “Thegreatest impact on my life with Jongone is [simply] that he is gone! If everI am busy with my kids, stressed out,over worked, out of time, Jon will stepin without a moment’s hesitation andtake some of my load…can’t replace apartner like that easily.”Park feels it takes a few weeks toget back to the routine when hereturns home. “I initially feel outof place and detached— a certainestrangement,” said Park. He agreesthat PTSD is a bigger issue but hebelieves that is a cultural difference.“Previous generations did not feelcomfortable talking about it.” Now,screenings are done before and aftereach deployment. “Battle buddies” areencouraged to communicate with eachother and to let commanding officersknow of any issues.As he gets ready to deploy, heemphasizes that public supporthas made a huge difference to thetroops. When overseas they receivecards and gifts. The support helpsencourage soldiers to re-enlist, as hehas. Even though he says that fightingan “asymmetric war where there areno fronts and the enemy is hidingin public” is extremely stressful, thesatisfaction he receives from serving isadequate compensation. •Carla McKelvey, MD, is a pediatrician inprivate practice in Coos Bay. She is thePresident-Elect of the OMA.Spring 2010 • 15