USU Newsletter 

VOLUME 2,ISSUE 4 WWW.USUHS.MIL FEB. 26,2007 

In This Issue 

Gripes into go-bys.....................2 

Student Profile: Class of 2010...3 

Student Profile: Grad Ed............3 

Calendar of Events..............Back
USU Newsletter 

Editorial Staff 

Carol R. Scheman 

Vice President for 

External Affairs and 

Managing Editor 

Tech. Sgt. 

André Nicholson 

Editor 

Mass Communications 

Specialist 

Seaman 

Raul Zamora 

Staff Writer 

 

Mass Communications 

Specialist 

Seaman 

Jeffrey Hopkins 

Staff Writer 

Marla Wright 

Webmaster 

Publishing 

USU Duplicating Office

Production: 

Editorial content is 

edited, prepared and 

provided by the USU 

Office of External Affairs unless otherwise 

indicated. The Newsletter staff may include 

or exclude articles 

based upon news 

value, impact on the 

university and space 

availability. 

Submissions: 

The USU Newsletter 

will be published biweekly on Mondays 

and deadline for submission is Friday at 4 

p.m. Submissions can 

be sent to usunewsletter@usuhs.mil or call 

301-295-3925. 

PAGE 2 

 It seems to be part of our culture to gripe about 

the system. Maybe we’ve seen too many war movies, or maybe our system is so complex that there is 

always room for improvement. However, it seems 

that if you sit down with colleagues for a cup of 

coffee, or lunch, or arrive early for a meeting, 

someone will soon be expressing frustration with 

how the system did not work. 

 I believe that Integration is our chance to do 

something about the system – to leave it better 

than we found it. Early in our process MAJ GEN 

Kenneth Farmer expressed the thought that Integration was “the right thing to do, if we do it 

right.” This vision was translated into our vision 

and our approach. Not only did we have a vision 

of creating a model academic health center for 

military medicine, we were given an approach 

which challenged us to select the best of the Army, 

Navy, and Air Force systems. We were encouraged to add our best ideas, and create our most 

inventive methods such that the whole would be 

clearly better than the sum of the parts. 

 I believe that little has changed. Everyone always knew that resources and regulations would 

provide outer limits to our creativity. RADM Adam 

Robinson gave the advice to “proceed until apprehended.” 

 Groups of individuals with similar responsibilities at multiple levels of our healthcare delivery 

systems came together in committees, subcommittees, and working groups to look at the future. 

The universal first reactions seemed to be that 

there was no way we could make this happen. 

However, after sharing our differences we began 

to discover similarities. Soon common goals and 

means were identified as areas for sharing and 

integration and the process continued to grow. 

Teams representing the two medical centers, the 

other bedded facilities, and the Uniformed Servces 

University of the Health Sciences began documenting common standards, common methods, and 

joint planning for the future. Within months the 

commanders of the remaining medical treatment 

facilities in the National Capital Area (NCA) were 

engaged the planning process. 

 While Congress, the Department of Defense, 

and Surgeons General struggled to determine the 

size and shape of a Unified Medical Command, our 

teams continued to develop new models from the 

best of the services and the creative ideas of our 

people and the broader healthcare community. 

 A construction budget for the north and south 

campuses was assembled, defended, and approved. A host of specialty teams built space requirements based on BRAC data and new concepts of operation that was sent to the architects 

Feb. 1, 2007. 

 Integration subcommittees developed goals 

and objectives for 2006, which were approved by 

the Flag Officer oversight group, and to a great 

extent accomplished as planned. Professional and 

administrative groups of all kinds identified, and 

documented for approval, many common standards, methods, and operational goals. 

 The Air Force committed to contributing healthcare manpower to the NCA. Position descriptions 

and selection criteria for medical center leadership 

were written and approved. Currently, search committees are recommending the best qualified individuals to command and flag groups for approval. 

While at this writing only one selection has been 

finalized and announced, many are underway, 

and all major positions are scheduled for selection 

by summer 2007. 

 Now, more specific goals are being developed 

for completion in 2007. We are finding ways to 

make the hard choices that will create a model for 

military medicine. 

 Because BRAC has the weight of law, we will 

have jointly staffed hospitals in Bethesda and Fort 

Belvoir. Because you and your colleagues have 

been involved, it will be better than the sum of its 

parts and will begin to serve as a test-bed for all of 

military medicine. 

BRAC/Integration Moving Forward 

 Gripes into Go-Bys

By Dr. Vernon Schinski 

Special Assistant to the USU President 

on BRAC/Integration 

THE VISION 

We envision and are committed to one integrated health system which leverages the assets of all DoD health care treatment facilities in the National Capital Area (NCA). The 

tri-service Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda will be a worldwide 

military referral center and together with the Uniformed Services University of the Health 

Sciences (USU) will represent the core of this integrated health system. All tri-service 

facilities in the NCA and USU will serve as a premier academic medical system focused 

on delivering the highest quality care, distinguished health professional education, and 

exemplary clinical and translational research.
 The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) 

has students from all over the United States. Every student has an 

interesting story about where they are from and where they are going. 

 Air Force 2nd Lt. Rick Burgon is a 27-year-old Class of 2010 medical student. 

 Burgon, who was born in Tacoma, Washington into a family of 

five, grew up in Brigham City, Utah. During high school he had his 

first experience with the military at the National Guard Freedom 

Academy. The academy is a week-long leadership course attended 

by two students from every high school in Utah. The students take 

part in a multitude of activities including running obstacle courses; 

firing M-16s and M-6s; driving through an obstacle course with a 

HUMMV; rapelling; riding in a Blackhawk helicopter and riding in a 

tank-type-transport. The students also met state leaders, and talked to 

inmates of the state prison. 

 After his senior year, Burgon served a two-year volunteer mission 

in the Philippines for his church. When finished with his mission, he 

went to pre-med classes at Rick’s College, in Utah, where he first 

heard about USU. 

 “I knew a professor at Rick’s College 

who was a former instructor at USU and he 

spoke very highly about it,” he said. “The 

way that USU was explained to me, in a 

nutshell, was that it was a military school. I 

was able to choose my branch of service, I 

would become commissioned and the 

government would pay for my school. All I 

would owe was time. I figured I could be in 

debt for 20 years or go in for seven with a 

possibility of retirement. That sounded 

appealing to me.” 

 Burgon graduated from Brigham Young 

University with a bachelors degree in neuroscience and a minor in chemistry. Burgon’s wife, Heather, helped 

him obtain his masters degree in neuroscience. The two schools he 

considered attending next were the University of Utah and USU. 

 Burgon met his wife during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake 

City, and married later that year. While he was trying to obtain his 

Masters, Heather worked as a registered nurse. She is now a full-time 

mom. They adopted a baby girl named Savannah who is four and a 

half-month-old and just learned to sit up, he said like a proud father. 

 Having a grandfather who was in the Air Force and a brother 

who is active-duty Air Force, it was only natural for Burgon to go 

blue. His brother was in the First Assignment Instructor Pilot Program 

and is now a pilot instructor at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. 

 Burgon likes water skiing, snow skiing, reading, playing the piano, 

playing Frisbee with his wife, watching movies at home and spending time with his family. 

PAGE 3 

USU Student Profile: 2nd Lt. Rick 

Burgon, SOM Class of 2010 

By MCSN Raul Zamora 

Staff Writer, Office of External Affairs 

2nd Lt. Rick Burgon 

SOM, Class of 2010 

 The Uniformed Services University of the 

Health Sciences (USU) is a melting pot of students from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds. 

 One of those students is Gabriel DeFang, 

who hails from Cameroon, Africa. DeFang is a 

doctoral degree candidate enrolled in the 

Emerging Infectious Disease program. The 

program has been created for students who 

are primarily interested in the pathogenesis, 

host response, and epidemiology of infectious 

diseases. 

 This is DeFang’s last year in the five-year 

program and his goal is to complete the program requirements this summer, as he is currently working on his thesis titled: “Toward 

Viral Vaccine Development – A Modified 

Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Replicon as a Strategy for Optimizing Immunogenicity.” 

 DeFang is also a research student in the 

lab of CAPT Gerald Quinnan, M.D., U.S. Public 

Health Service, professor and chair department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics. 

 “The program has been a lot of work as I 

expected, but it has been so rewarding,” he 

said. “I don’t think my thesis would be what it 

is today without the interaction with the faculty and other students like we have here at 

the University. The collaboration I’ve had with 

Dr. Quinnan and Dr. (Christopher) Broder 

(professor and director Emerging Infectious 

Diseases Program) has been so valuable to 

me.” 

 Before coming to USU DeFang earned his 

bachelors degree in microbiology from the 

University of Buea, Cameroon, Africa in 1996. 

He had not received his United States citizenship at the time but he was able to enlist in 

the U.S. Navy. He served eight years as a hospital corpsman and was assigned to the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) as a 

laboratory technician for three years. It was 

during his time at NNMC that DeFang heard 

about the 

Emerging 

Infectious 

Disease program at USU 

and has been 

enrolled since 

2003. 

 Dr. Eleanor S. 

Metcalf, associate dean, 

Graduate Education, believes 

graduate students comprise important and integral components of the academic mission and scholarly environment of USU. 

 “USU graduates serve the nation in public 

service, create new knowledge, train the next 

generation of scientists, and/or contribute to 

the advancement of health and science in 

both public and private positions,” Dr. Metcalf 

said. 

 After graduation from the Ph.D. program 

DeFang said he is interested in seeking a commission with the U.S. Public Health Service. 

Student Profile: 

Gabriel DeFang 

Graduate Education 

By TSgt. André Nicholson 

NCOIC, Office of External Affairs 

Gabriel De Fang 

Graduate Education 

USU Town Hall Meeting: Call for discussion topics 

The next Town Hall meeting is scheduled for March 7 at 3 p.m. in the USU Cafeteria. Topics for discussion include updates on: 

BRAC/Integration; GSN funding; expanding the size of USU; post graduate dental school; summary of the USU President’s Open Door

Program; budget; three major USU searches; IM/IT; and Building E construction. Please provide information on your interest in the 

above topics as well as suggestions for other topics by completing the Town Hall survey at: 

http://www.usuhs.mil/usuhs/townhallsurvey1.html. 
USU Calendar of Events 

25 26 

Department of Pathology Seminar: The 

Pathogenesis of Cardiomyopathies 

11:30a.m. - 12:30p.m. 

Lecture Room A.

The Annual Graduate 

Student Open House 

Wine and Cheese Party

3p.m. 

Small Dining Room

27 28 

“Molecular Machinery 

for the Transport of 

Neurotransmitter 

Receptors at 

Synapses” 

3:30p.m.

Lecture Room A 

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting 

noon - 1p.m.

AFRRI Small Conference Room

1 2 

Department of Pathology Seminar: The 

Chaperonopathies 

noon

 Room A2053

3 

4 5 6 7 

Town Hall Meeting 

3p.m. 

Cafeteria 

LRC Training Classes 

EndNote Basics 

Noon - 1p.m.

LRC

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting in Room 

Noon - 1p.m.

Room A2011

8 

LRC Training Classes 

PubMed Basics 

Noon - 1p.m.

LRC

AFRRI Department of 

Military Medical Operations presents the 

"Medical Effects of 

Ionizing Radiation 

Course" 

WRAMC

9 

AFRRI Department of 

Military Medical Operations presents the 

"Medical Effects of 

Ionizing Radiation 

Course" 

WRAMC

10 

11 12 13 14 

USU Center for Health 

Disparities Research 

and Education Information Table on 

Colorectal Cancer 

11:30a.m. - 

1:30p.m.

Bldg. B Lobby 

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting 

noon 1p.m.

 AFRRI Small Conference Room 

15 

LRC Training Classes: 

PubMed Basics 

6p.m. - 7p.m.

LRC 

LRC Training Classes: 

EndNote Basics Basics 

6p.m. - 7p.m.

LRC

16 17 

Community Disasters: 

Preparing, Responding, 

and Treating Child 

Trauma-Related Disorders. What clinicians 

need to know 

7:30a.m - 5p.m.

USU Campus18 19 20 

LRC Training Classes: 

Introduction to EXCEL 

10a.m. - noon 

LRC

21 

USU Toastmasters 

Meeting 

noon - 1p.m.

Room A2011

22 

LRC Training Classes: 

Introduction to EXCEL 

3p.m. - 5p.m.

LRC

23 24 

March