1 the pulse July 14, 2016

Learning to Care for Those in Harm’s Way

Volume 11, Issue 11 n July 14, 2016

www.usuhs.edu

The Official USU Newsletter
2 the pulse July 14, 2016

On the cover

Sharon Holland

Deputy Vice President for External 

Affairs and Managing Editor

Christopher Austin

Writer and Interim Editor

MC2 Laura Bailey

Writer and Photographer

SSgt. Stephanie Morris, USAF

Writer and Photographer

Sarah Marshall

Contributing Writer and 

Photographer

Tom Balfour

Photographer

Production

Editorial content is edited, prepared 

and provided by the USU Office of 

External Affairs unless otherwise indicated. The Pulse staff may include 

or exclude articles based upon news 

value, impact on the university and 

space availability.

Submissions

The Pulse is published biweekly on 

Mondays. The deadline for submissions is at 4 p.m. Tuesday prior to the 

publication date. Submissions can be 

sent to christopher.austin.ctr@usuhs.

edu or by calling 301-295-3338.

A zombie scenario is used as part of 

an online population health course 

at the Uniformed Services University 

of the Health Sciences (USU). The 

course is part of degree requirements 

in USU's family nurse practitioner 

Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) 

program. See story, Pg. 3. (Animation 

by USU's Education & Technology 

Innovation Support Office)

 Nine enlisted service members in the Air Force and Army 

were recently commissioned after 

successfully completing the Uniformed Services University of the 

Health Sciences (USU) Enlisted to 

Medical Degree Preparatory Program.

 The Enlisted to Medical 

Degree Preparatory Program, or 

EMDP2, is a 24-month program 

for highly qualified enlisted service 

members interested in a career as 

a military physician. the program’s 

components include full-time 

coursework in a traditional classroom setting at George Mason University’s Prince William Campus 

in northern Virginia, structured 

pre-health advising, formal Medical 

College Admission Test (MCAT) 

preparation, dedicated faculty and 

peer mentoring at USU, and integrated clinical exposure. 

 Four EMDP2 graduates – 

Joshua Richter, Steve Capen, Alex 

Blereau, and Steve Radloff – were 

all commissioned as Army second 

lieutenants in a small ceremony 

in San Antonio, Texas. The commissioning of the five Air Force 

graduates to second lieutenants – 

Matthew Little, Kenneth Johnson, 

Joseph Merfeld, Lindsay Slimski, 

and Jeremy Mears – was conducted 

during a ceremony at USU on June 

23, led by retired Lt. Gen. (Dr.) 

Thomas Travis, former Air Force 

Surgeon General and current USU 

Senior Vice President for University 

Programs. 

 “This is personal and important to me because, as the son of an 

enlisted Airman, I took advantage 

of every opportunity I could to go 

to school and obtain the right prerequisites to eventually successfully 

compete and attend USU as part of 

the class of 1986,” Travis said. “This 

will be a way they can serve their 

classmates, who would do well to 

learn from these experienced airmen. I look forward to attending 

their graduation in May 2020, when 

they take two oaths – the Hippocratic Oath, as they become physicians, and the oath of office, as they 

are promoted to captain." 

 The nine officers will report to 

the University at the beginning 

of August to start their medical 

studies. 

First EMDP2 Cohort Commissioned

By Staff Sgt. Stephanie Morris

Four Soldiers and five Airmen were commissioned after successfully completeing the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2). (Courtesy 

Photo)
3 the pulse July 14, 2016

A course at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is teaching students 

global health care delivery in a 

unique way that’s sure to be a “thriller.”

Students in USU’s Family Nurse 

Practitioner (FNP) Doctorate of 

Nursing Practice (DNP) program 

must take a population health course 

as part of their degree requirements. 

This online class outlines key principles in responding to and understanding population health – the 

overall health of a group, be it a 

group of employees, a community, 

or entire nation. Students must apply what they learn about theories 

and models of public health care 

through debate, small group work, 

and a series of creative scenarios – 

including a zombie pandemic.

“We use the narrative device of a 

zombie pandemic in animations and 

assignment to help engage students 

in content,” explained Catherine 

Ling, assistant professor and Family 

Nurse Practitioner for the DNP and 

Ph.D. programs, in USU’s Daniel K. 

Inouye Graduate School of Nursing.

The students watch video clips of 

scenarios, including a scene where 

the nation’s “President” delivers a 

brief “State of the Zombie Pandemic” address. Students see the impact 

that a fictitious zombie virus has 

made on a population, the fear it’s 

created – along with “anti-zombie” 

posters strewn all over cities. These 

scenarios reinforce teaching materials regarding various tools that 

shape population health planning 

and interventions. 

The online course, as well as its 

animations and conceptual framework, were created with help from 

a team of instructional designers 

and graphic artists from USU’s Education & Technology Innovation 

(ETI) Support Office.

Ling said the zombie coursework 

keeps the material interesting, and 

the underlying zombie “theme,” 

throughout each lesson in the module makes it more cohesive. In turn, 

narrative cohesion makes it easier to 

remember the material and therefore easier to apply should there 

ever be a real-life population health 

emergency.

As part of a fictitious Department 

of Defense division, “HHIT,” the students draw on what they’ve learned 

throughout the course to enact a 

quarantine, administer widespread 

vaccines, and obtain international 

resources, Ling explained. Meanwhile, she added, they must remember to follow actual DoD guidelines, 

when responding to the “growing 

zombie pandemic.”

The course provides a working 

understanding of essential competencies in population health. 

This skill set is critical in an era of 

increasing antibiotic resistance, 

emerging infectious diseases and 

pandemics like Ebola and Zika. 

Ling said she’s always looking for 

ways to keep students engaged by 

keeping the material relevant and 

interesting. Adult learning can be 

enjoyable as well. Those who aren’t 

into zombies don’t have to watch the 

videos – they can read the storyline 

instead. Students have consistently had positive feedback, Ling said, 

commenting this is “the best online 

class” they’ve taken.

A student in the DNP/FNP who 

has taken the course, Air Force 

Capt. Marcie Hart, echoed those 

sentiments. As a big fan of the TV 

show “The Walking Dead,” Hart said 

she was very excited when Dr. Ling 

Students Learn Public Health, Zombie Style

By Sarah Marshall

A "zombie" is used as part of a scenario in an online population health 

course in the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) 

Graduate School of Nursing (GSN). (Animation by ETI)

continued on pg.5
4 the pulse July 14, 2016

The F. Edward Hébert School of 

Medicine’s (SoM) Office of Student 

Affairs will introduce the Hébert 

School of Medicine Wellbeing Program this fall to provide students 

with support as they pursue their 

military medical careers. 

The program splits students into 

four groups referred to as "homes." 

Students will remain in the "fire 

teams" they entered the university 

with and will be paired with a "fire 

team" from another SoM class; firstyear students will be paired with 

second-year students, and thirdyear students with fourth-year students. These paired groups make 

up what are being referred to as a 

"family." Sixteen familites make up a 

"home," and each "home" will be led 

by a faculty member.

“[This program] will allow us to 

have more meaningful relationships between the faculty and the 

students, to advance career advice, 

mentoring, social connections and 

utilize the senior students and their 

experience to mentor the first year 

students,” said Army Col. (Dr.) Lisa 

Moores, associate dean for Student 

Affairs at SoM.

The ultimate goal is to improve 

the resiliency of students, reduce 

stress and burnout, and better cope 

when these occur, she said, and to 

provide students with strategies and 

networks to support themselves 

when dealing with school and military life.

“Most interesting to me are the 

prospects of having a dedicated senior faculty mentor throughout all 

four years of the SoM curriculum,” 

Army 2nd Lt. Trey Colantonio, a 

student representative on the planning committee for 

the wellness program said. “Another aspect that I find 

appealing is the 

increased exposure students from 

different years will 

have with each 

other, since there 

are very few times 

where we are all on 

campus at the same 

time.”

The initiative 

to create the program was organized by Moores, 

who sought to improve student experiences on campus and help them 

in mentoring for their careers after 

school. A similar program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine was a major influence on the 

structure of the SoM's program. 

“The Vanderbilt University 

School of Medicine has a very robust program and has published the 

outcomes. They’ve looked not only 

at student satisfaction but actual 

measurements of student burnout 

and stress and how that has gone 

down since they instituted the program,” Moores said.

Each home will be encouraged to 

come up with a name and a crest to 

represent themselves. These will be 

carried on by the houses in subsequent years. Moores has said that the 

setup of using homes has reminded 

people of Hogwarts, the school in 

the fictional Harry Potter series. 

One of the proposed projects 

during the school year is to have 

community service challenges. 

“Community service is important 

to [the students]. They are very busy 

here because of the military curriculum that goes into our students' 

schedules. Unless you’re involved 

with a special interest group that has 

a lot of strong community outreach, 

it’s hard for them to get involved like 

they would like to,” Moores said.

In addition, the Office of Student 

Affairs is looking to hold wellness 

days for students so they might have 

a chance to take their minds off academics and have fun, Moores said. 

This past March, the Office of 

Student Affairs had an impromptu 

wellness day for third-year medical students. The event had performances by students, food, and track 

and field events. 

School of Medicine to Begin New Welness Program

By Christopher Austin

Third year students at Uniformed Services University 

of the Health Sciences (USU) take part in a wellness 

day put on by the Office of Student Affairs in March 

2016. Student Affairs hopes to have similar events in 

the future after it begins the Hébert School of Medicine 

Wellbeing Program this fall. (Photo by Tom Balfour)
5 the pulse July 14, 2016

mentioned the course would involve 

a “zombie apocalypse-type scenario.” 

“The videos are very tastefully 

done,” Hart said. “The ‘infected’ can 

be cured later in the scenario, so 

the characters are not using deadly 

force, and it is not overtly violent.” 

Hart added the videos are suspenseful, and exciting. They take somewhat bland, abstract information 

and make it interesting and concrete. “I thought it was a wonderful, 

fun twist to this course,” Hart said.

While the course is interesting, it 

also allows the students to use “the 

other side of their brain,” Ling noted. It gives them a chance to think 

creatively – and that certainly enhances their problem-solving and 

critical thinking skills, she said. The 

online course is also necessary, as a 

third of the students travel on a temporary duty assignment during the 

semester.

Ling continues focusing on student engagement, looking for ways 

to make course work interesting 

and thought provoking. So far, her 

imaginative efforts have earned her 

the Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award (TWSIA) for 2015. The 

award recognizes educators from institutions around the world for their 

excellence in teaching and learning.

For more information about 

USU’s ETI Support Office and its 

services, please visit: 

www.usuhs.edu/ETI.

Zombies, Continued From Pg. 3

The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards recently 

released their “Psychology Licensing 

Exam Scores by Doctoral Program” 

report, and the clinical psychology 

program in USU’s Department of 

Medical and Clinical Psychology 

was among the top in the nation.

The report summarizes how 

graduates of clinical psychology 

programs perform on the Examination for Professional Practice of 

Psychology (EPPP). Clinical psychologists must pass the EPPP to 

become licensed practitioners. Six 

USU clinical psychology program 

students took the exam between 

February 2015 and March 2016 

and 100 percent of those students 

passed, compared to an overall pass 

rate of 82.2 percent for all accredited 

doctoral programs.

“Our students exceeded the national average performance across 

all domains of the exam. The greatest discrepancies between our scores 

and the national average were in Assessment and Diagnosis, Treatment 

and Intervention, and Research 

Methods and Statistics – a wonderful illustration of the strength of our 

Scientist-Practitioner training,” said 

U.S. Public Health Service Cmdr. 

Jeffrey Goodie, director of the Clinical Psychology program at USU.

According to Goodie, the outcomes are particularly remarkable 

as these data are for those candidates who took the exam for the first 

time, which means that within this 

time frame 100 percent of USU students passed the exam the first time 

they took it.

"At USU we strive to give all of 

our students a solid foundation in 

the core skills that they need to be 

successful as early psychologists. 

The accomplishment of these students, not only passing the licensing 

exam but surpassing the national 

average scores in all areas, is a testament to their hard work and the 

commitment of our faculty," said 

David Riggs, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Medical and Clinical 

Psychology.

Clinical Psychology Students Ace Licensing Exams

By Sharon Holland

As members of the fictitious Department of Defense (DoD) division, "HHIT," 

students are tasked with using their course knowledge to enact a plan to deal 

with the outbreak wile following real-world DoD guidelines.(Courtesy Photo)
6 the pulse July 14, 2016

Retired Navy Capt. (Dr.) Douglas 

R. Knab, founding chair and professor emeritus of the Department of 

Obstetrics and Gynecology at Uniformed Services University of the 

Health Sciences (USU), passed away 

on June 24, 2016.

Knab’s vision, leadership style, 

and commitment to excellence in 

scholarship were recognized locally and nationally, having a highly 

significant impact in all areas with 

which he actively engaged.

Already stationed at the former 

National Naval Medical Center 

(NNMC) in Bethesda as a gynecologic oncologist and the obstetrics 

and gynecology service chief, in 

1976 he was appointed the founding chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at USU. He 

recruited nationally known faculty 

including Navy Capt. (Dr.) Robert 

Cephalo as vice chair at NNMC and 

Army Col. (Dr.) Robert Park as vice 

chair at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Under his leadership, 

the department flourished with the 

development of subspecialty fellowship programs in maternal-fetal 

medicine, gynecologic oncology, 

and reproductive endocrinology 

and infertility in his early years as 

well as continuing to support the 

two residency training programs 

at Bethesda and NNMC. Upon his 

retirement from the Navy in 1983, 

Knab successfully competed for his 

position as civilian chair at USU, a 

role which he continued until 1992. 

When the need was identified, he 

stepped forward 

to assume the 

duties as the first 

associate dean 

for graduate 

medical education at USU in 

addition to his 

duties as department chair.

Knab’s additional roles 

in the National 

Capital Area included serving 

as the consultant physician to 

the President for 

obstetrics and 

gynecology and 

consultant to 

the Office of the 

Attending Physician for obstetrics and gynecology at the 

U.S. Capitol. He 

served actively 

in a number of 

leadership roles 

at the American 

College of Obstetricians and 

Gynecologists (ACOG). Already 

chair of the Armed Forces district 

of ACOG, he became chair of the 

ACOG council of district chairs representing all districts of the college.

Following his retirement from 

USU in 1992, he and his wife Dorothy moved to the St. Petersburg, Fla., 

area where he maintained a teaching 

role at the University of South Florida as a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology, a member of 

the Board of Trustees of the Tampa 

Bay Research Institute, and a member of the Academy of Senior Professionals at the Eckerd College. The 

funeral service for Knab was held on 

July 1, 2016, in Virginia.

In Memoriam: Founding USU OB/GYN Chair 

Douglas R. Knab, M.D.

By William Haffner, M.D.

Retired Navy Capt. (Dr.) Douglas Knab was appointed 

the founding chair of the Department of Obstetrics and 

Gynecology at USU in 1976. He served as the consultant 

to the President for obstetrics and gynecology. He retired 

from USU in 1992. (Courtesy Photo)
7 the pulse July 14, 2016

The award for the Society for 

Simulation in Healthcare was recently bestowed on retired Navy 

Capt. (Dr.) Joseph Lopreiato, director of the Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences 

(USU) Val G. Hemming Simulation 

Center (SimCen), and professor of 

pediatrics and medicine, at the 15th 

annual meeting of the Association 

of Standardized Patients in Tampa, 

Fla. on June 26.

The award recognizes individuals in medical education who have 

made significant contributions to 

simulation, specifically the practice 

of standardized patients (SPs).

“Our SP group at USU has been 

delivering quality instruction using SPs for 17 years now,” Lopreiato 

said. “We have made innovations in 

the use of SPs to teach, give feedback 

and act as teaching assistants for 

students. We have recently begun 

working on a virtual SP avatar that 

can interact with students.”

Simulation and SP methodology 

are established ways to introduce a 

new skill, refresh an old skill or assess skills competency in students, 

he said. 

The average student comes to 

the SimCen 34 times during their 

course of study.

L o p r e i a t o 

said that he 

and his team 

are very proud 

of the role they 

play in teaching and reinforcing the 

clinical skills 

students need 

to become successful clinicians.

He accepted 

the award on 

behalf of the SP 

training staff 

at the SimCen 

who he described as the 

"secret sauce of 

success." The 

SP educators 

at USU simulation center include Dr. Lou 

Clark, Patty 

Bell, Michael Montgomery, Andrea 

Creel, Vanessa Strickland, Grant 

Cloyd and Renee Dorsey.

“I was honored for the recognition of our team and glad that we 

were able to be good representatives 

of USU on a national stage,” Lopreiato stated. “I wish to thank the deans 

of the F. Edward Hébert School of 

Medicine School of Medicine, Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of 

Nursing and the office of the president of USU for all their support for 

our simulation center. We are leaders in the field because of the support we get from this University.”

Sim Center Staff Receive Simulation Award

By Staff Sgt. Stephanie Morris

Val G. Hemming Simulation Center staff members were recently presented the Simulation in 

Healthcare Award for their contributions to the development of standardized patient simulations. 

(Courtesy Photo)
8 the pulse July 14, 2016

Final Frame

Five faculty members in USU's Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing were among a dozen service members 

who were invited on stage at a concert by the rock band, Journey, July 2, 2016, at Jiffy Lube Live amphitheater in 

Bristow, Va. Army Lt.Col. Danette Cruthirds, Navy Cmdr. Justice Parrott, ret. Army Lt.Col. Matthew Welder, Navy 

Lt.Cmdr. Eric Pauli, and Army Lt.Col. Andrea Fuller stood at attention in front of more than 20,000 concertgoers 

while Journey lead guitarist, Neal Schon, played a Star Spangled Banner guitar solo. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Welder)