Update after First Year

Wow... it's been a year already. I suppose Father's Day will henceforth represent a milestone in ways it didn't previously. A year ago, my daughter, Audrey, took her oath of office as an Ensign... the day before Father's Day 2009, she flew off to Newport, RI and Officer Development School. She began her Navy career as a first-year medical student at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda MD. Well, it's been a year filled with ups and downs (more of the former, but not devoid of the latter).

Her experience this year followed a mostly academic calendar, not unfamiliar to her father (I'm an academic professor and researcher). In medical school, the challenging first term course is gross anatomy (with cadaver dissection) and she busted to do well in this hallmark course. She also worked hard and did well in biochemistry (for which USUHS administers a "shelf exam" which is similar to components of the United States Medical Licensing Exam step 1)... you see, graduates from the Hebert School of Medicine at USUHS have to become licensed just like a civilian physician. Due to travel restrictions, she wasn't able to have the Thanksgiving holiday with us in California, but the Fall term ended in mid December so she had two weeks of liberty with us over the Christmas holiday.

Going back to such a challenge after liberty was as difficult for her as it might be for some of your sailors here, even though her challenges revolve around somewhat different content. Not that her duty is devoid of physical challenges as well... she's had to stay in shape as any Navy officer must - in her case with 5am workouts and the semi-annual PRTs. In the spring, her class of about 170 traveled to the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland for what they term the Antietam roadmarch - six miles of military medicine history and re-enactments that complement some of their classroom studies on the history of medicine.

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, we traveled to Bethesda to celebrate her "White Coat" ceremony - an event that has become common in medical schools around the country to symbolize students' induction into the study and practice of medicine. We then toured the National Mall in DC, including some of the Smithsonian museums and the WWII memorial, while remembering POWs & MIAs from all our nation's conflicts. More poignant than ever before...

Having now completed her first year's studies, she has an interesting summer coming up. After a week's training (this year at Andrews Air Force Base on the other side of Washington DC) and two weeks of liberty, she'll be a part of Operation Kerkesner [video], a training operation that applies some of the skills learned in her military medicine coursework during the first year (EMT-like treatments, along with practice in field operations including chemical/biological warfare protective gear). Following Kerkesner, she'll be a "patient" at Operation Bushmaster, an exercise for fourth-year students who set up and operate a field hospital in the woods near Fort Indiantown Gap, PA. I say "patient" because the first year students are the simulated battlefield casualties (made to look as realistic as possible with expert moulage)... I'm wondering what "injury" she'll encounter. She then has a two-week clerkship with the Marines at Camp Lejeune, NC before another brief liberty and the start of her second year's coursework.

Throughout this year, I've been so proud of Audrey's dedication and service, as I'm sure all Dads here are proud of your sailors' service to our country. My thanks to them and to you this Fathers Day!