PHYSICIANS ON THE FRONT LINE
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PROFESSIONAL
ANNOUNCEMENT
PACKAGE
The GLMS Professional
Announcement Package
provides mailings and printed
announcements in the
monthly publications to let
your colleagues know about
changes in your practice.
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mailing to GLMS.
CONTACT
Amanda Edmondson
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502.736.6330
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brought PTSD with them. Sometimes, it would be aggravated in
theater, but not always. More commonly, I was dealing with home
front stresses. People could get news from home, which was a far
way, and this news might make them worry or be sad.
Sleep problems were also very common. I tell this to my students
when we talk about operational psychiatry. The last few wars we’ve
had have taken place in a 12-hour time difference from US time.
We are transported over there quickly, and soldiers often have little
time to adjust to this very different circumstance, and it can have
a lasting effect if not addressed.
IN 2008, YOU SERVED AS DEPARTMENT CHIEF OF BEHAV-
IORAL HEALTH FOR THE NATIONAL NAVAL MEDICAL CEN-
TER IN BETHESDA, MD. HOW DID THAT LEADERSHIP TEAM
INTEGRATE WITH WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER?
WHAT WERE YOUR OBJECTIVES FOR THE MAINTAINING OF
QUALITY CARE DURING THAT TRANSITION?
That transition was a big challenge, though not because we took care
of patients in dramatically different ways. Psychiatry is psychiatry.
Both the Army and the Navy wanted the same for our patients. But,
we had very different cultures and fairly different systems of how
we delivered that care.
The Army has a flatter organizational structure while the Navy
is more hierarchical. It has to do with where they work. When you
go out on a ship, a strong hierarchy is a good idea. But, for smaller
Army units in the field, having more autonomy is a good idea.
Those underlying cultures infuse the medical corps of both services.
After a three-year process we merged the hospitals together
in 2011 forming what is now known as the Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center. We got to know each other and tried to
figure out how to make those two systems work. I’m proud that we
were able to do that.
Now when you walk around Walter Reed, you don’t get a sense
of differences between Army and Navy culture. Instead, there’s a
Walter Reed way of doing things. The fact that we got to that point
is amazing.
SOON AFTER, YOU AGAIN SERVED OVERSEAS AS A COMBAT
AND STRESS CONTROL OFFICER IN THE HELMLAND PROV-
INCE OF AFGHANISTAN. IN WHAT WAYS DID THIS ASSIGN-
MENT DIFFER FROM YOUR TIME AS AN OSCAR PSYCHIATRIST
IN FALLUJAH?
The difference was mobility. I was not assigned to rotate amongst
units as I had in Iraq. I was assigned to manage operations on a
bigger base. This was not an embedded role, though a lot of those
skills were applicable.
The other thing that was very different about Afghanistan is
that we were much more involved on the mental health side in the
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE