The Official USU Newsletter

Learning to Care for Those in Harm’s Way

Volume 11, Issue 6 n April 25, 2016

www.usuhs.edu
2 the pulse April 25, 2016

On the cover

Sharon Holland

Deputy Vice President for External Affairs and Managing Editor

Eric Ritter

Writer and Editor

MC3 Laura Bailey

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 

eric.ritter2@usuhs.edu or by calling 301-

295-3791.

Dr. Stephen Cozza, professor of Psychiatry and associate director of the Center 

for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the 

Health Sciences (right), was a guest speaker at a White House convening on 

"Operation Educate the Educators: Committed to Recognizing and Supporting our Military-Connected Students," on April 13. The forum, hosted by 

Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden (left), a military mom and lifelong educator, was 

part of the Month of the Military Child celebration and part of Biden's Joining 

Forces initiative. (Courtesy photo)

First-year medical students at the F. 

Edward Hébert School of Medicine 

(SOM) at the Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences 

(USU) recite the Hippocratic Oath 

after they donned their jackets for the 

first time during the annual White 

Coat ceremony in the amphitheater 

at USU, April 8. See story, page 3. 

(Photo by MC3 Laura Bailey) 

Cozza honored at White House

New USU President Announced

The Secretary of Defense 

has announced Major General (Dr.) 

Richard W. Thomas, MD, DDS, has 

been selected to be the next President of the Unifored Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) 

and will succeed Dr. Charles Rice 

this summer. Thomas was selected from a large pool of candidates 

nationwide. A search committee 

was made up of faculty, staff, Board 

members, students and alumni led 

by Dr. Ronald Blanck, Chair of the 

University Board of Regents.

Thomas comes to the University with an incredible resume 

and experience through his many 

years in support of the Department 

of Defense and the Military Health 

System after recently completing a 

two-year assignment as the first Director of Healthcare Operations for 

the Defense Health Agency.

Major General (Dr.) Richard W. 

Thomas, MD, DDS, has been selected to be the next President of USU. 

(Courtesy Photo)
3 the pulse April 25, 2016

SOM Students Don Symbolic White Coats 

By MC3 Laura Bailey

More than 170 first-year 

medical students at the F. Edward 

Hébert School of Medicine (SOM) 

at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) 

recited the Hippocratic Oath as 

their families helped them don their 

jackets for the first time during the 

annual White Coat ceremony in the 

amphitheater at USU, April 8, 2016. 

The coat is symbolic of their 

transition to working with patients 

during their clerkships. The associate dean for clinical affairs and chief 

diversity officer in the SOM, Army 

Col. (Dr.) Jeffrey Hutchinson, was 

the event's guest speaker. 

“Right now, you are at the 

very beginning of your medical 

careers with real fear and anxiety 

about the future,” said Hutchinson. 

“You can visualize someone recognizing your ignorance. But you also 

have no idea how important you are. 

You push us as teachers to be better; 

your presence insures that we work 

constantly to know the right answer. 

But, where you make the most difference is with patient care. Medical students are so much more than 

doctors in training, you bridge the 

communication gap between patients and providers.”

He went on to share, from 

his own personal experience, how 

important medical students have 

been to him and his family. 

“My wife is a breast cancer survivor and is currently being 

treated for a relapse of non-Hodgkins lymphoma,” said Hutchinson. 

“So, the past few years have been 

challenging. I am grateful for military medicine and the care we have 

received and I hope that those of you 

who haven't experienced medicine 

from the patient's point of view will 

never have to, but the experience of 

receiving health care in life threatening situations changes you. We 

have had doctors with every level of 

skill and every imaginable bedside 

manner. Also, the providers were 

smart and honest enough to know 

their limits. The best encounters in 

my eyes have almost always been 

with the medical students. 

“One late afternoon, after being told that a lymph node needed to 

come out, the student on his hematology oncology rotation knocked 

and asked to come in. The team assumed that my wife was afraid of a 

procedure when we both were trying to understand the plan. Typically, medical students work very hard 

to give the appearance of confidence 

and competence. This young man 

came in and asked, "What can I do?" 

His goal was not to try and impress 

us with his medical knowledge, but 

to simply see how we were doing. 

So, instead of attempting to portray 

the "all knowing" provider, he just 

came to visit and it was exactly what 

we needed at the time. 

“I wish that all of us as doctors could hold on to that humility. I wish we could all maintain the 

ability of a medical student to accept 

our ignorance and simply listen to 

what our patients are saying. As you 

wield the power of your position as 

a health care provider I hope you 

can remember that your knowledge 

is wasted without the personal connection.”

Students who received their 

coats engage in 48 weeks of required 

clinical clerkships in family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, 

psychiatry, surgery, obstetrics and 

gynecology, and a selective. The 

basic science threads build on concepts that were introduced in the 

pre-clerkship modules. Clinical 

threads focus on the skills necessary 

to practice life-long learning and 

on evidence-based medicine. Visit 

the university website for more information about the SOM clerkship 

program. 

SOM students prepare to don their white coats for the first time. (Photo by 

MC3 Laura Bailey)
4 the pulse April 25, 2016

By Christopher Austin

The Alpha Omega Alpha 

Honor Medical Society Uniformed 

Services University of the Health 

Sciences (USU) Maryland Gamma Chapter announced its newest 

members for the class of 2017 this 

month.

“The elections were made 

that much more difficult given the 

number of impressive applications 

that we received, and the applicants 

were simply extraordinary,” Chapter 

AΩA Announces Newest Class of 2017 Members

President, Air Force 2nd Lt. Jeremy 

Bolin said.

The Alpha Omega Alpha 

Honor Medical Society, founded in 

1902, is the national medical honor 

society focused on higher education 

and teaching accomplishments in 

128 medical schools from around 

the country.

According to the society's 

website, students selected to join 

are in the top quartile of their class, 

and display qualities of leadership 

among their peers, professionalism, 

a firm sense of ethics, promise of future success in medicine and a commitment to service in the school and 

community.

“Election to [Alpha Omega Alpha] is an honor signifying a 

lasting commitment to scholarship, 

leadership, professionalism and service,” Bolin continued. “Membership is a lifelong honor that confers 

recognition for a physician's dedication to the profession and art of 

healing.”

USU Taking Leadership Role at 2016 Military 

Women's Health Research Conference

The role of women in the 

military continues to evolve as new 

policies open new opportunities 

for women throughout the armed 

services. These new opportunities 

present new areas of focus for DoD 

leadership.

The Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences (USU) is taking the leadership 

role in sponsoring the inaugural 

Military Women’s Health Research 

Conference, April 26, at the Women In Military Service For America 

Memorial at the Arlington National 

Cemetery.

According to Dr. Elizabeth 

Kostas-Polston, assistant professor 

at the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate 

School of Nursing (GSN), and Cochair of the event, this conference 

will convene with partners of some 

of the largest health care agencies in 

United States for the purpose to address research gaps and identifying 

opportunities in the field of military 

women’s health care.

“The research topics will 

cover women’s health through military service and into veteran life,” 

Kostas-Polston said. “The focus of 

the research topics will be on optimal force readiness, cancer and prevention, and reproductive health.”

“Women’s health research 

has always been important to the 

military,” she said. “However, the 

military goal is to increase the number of female members from 15 

percent to 25 percent of the total 

force. In anticipation of this increase 

women’s health, as impacted by mission readiness, requires further exploration.”

Kostas-Polston said she is 

excited about the caliber of scientists, critical researchers, policy 

makers and federal and non-federal 

leaders who will be participating. 

“To my knowledge, this is 

the first military conference which 

is bringing together parties from 

the Department of Defense and 

Department of Veterans Affairs 

to learn about the state of the science of military women veteran’s 

health. Research topics covered will 

be looking ahead from active duty 

members transitioning into the veteran community. 

“An overall goal is for USU 

to stand up a military research agenda,” she said. “In this leadership role, 

USU can then serve as the hub researchers in military health,” she 

said. “We are excited about where 

this is going and how this collaborative effort will make military women’s healthcare more effective for the 

future.” 

By Eric Ritter

Dr. Elizabeth Kostas-Polston, assistant professor at the Daniel K. 

Inouye Graduate School of Nursing (GSN), will co-chair the Military Women's Health Research 

Conference, April 26. (Photo Tom 

Balfour)
5 the pulse April 25, 2016

Kellermann Delivers SOM 

State of the School Address

By Christopher Austin

Dr. Arthur Kellermannn, dean of the F. Edward Hébert 

School of Medicine (SOM) at The 

Uniformed Services University of 

the Health Sciences (USU) gave a 

state of the school address to the assembled faculty in Sanford Hall on 

April 21.

The major topics covered 

during the address were the recent 

re-accreditation by the Liaison 

Committee on Medical Education 

(LCME), changes to the SOM’s 

graduate student support, and the 

accomplishments and ways the 

school could improve.

“Dramatic changes have occurred in the last 18 months,” Dr. 

Gregory Mueller, associate Dean 

of graduate affairs said. Eighteen 

months ago the DOD informed 

USU that it will no longer support 

graduate students with appropriate 

funds that were being administered 

as stipends. To continue to support 

the students USU was able to create 

paid positions for those students.

“The president and I made 

a bold move,” Mueller continued, 

“That if we couldn’t support them 

with stipends, we would hire them.”

This provides them with a 

$35,000 salary along with no tuition 

fees, free text books, transit benefits 

and health insurance.

“These are some of the 

things that attract applicants to our 

program,” Mueller said. “In addition to the academic excellence that 

exists here," Muller said.

This year, there have been a 

total of 409 applications to the SOM 

graduate programs, a 10 percent increase from previous years. 

“This is a very respectable 

and nice increase in the number of 

applications that we can attribute 

to both the quality of our programs 

and the support we give our graduates,” Mueller said.

Mueller pointed out that he 

would like to increase this number 

by possibly accepting applications 

from international students in the 

future.

Other improvements he’d 

like to see in the graduate program 

include developing more pathways for graduate students to enter 

non-traditional careers for Ph.D. 

students.

One of the observations by 

the LCME was that the strategic 

framework for the SOM needed to 

be updated. The drafting of the new 

strategic framework began last year 

with SOM leaders having an offsite 

meeting to determine how to fit the 

school’s framework within that of 

the University. 

The new framework will be 

posted online in May for review by 

SOM faculty to give feedback and 

suggestions. 

The 2014 strategic framework was reviewed during the address to reflect on the goals of the 

SOM from two years ago and how 

they have been accomplished.

“We knocked it out of the 

park in curriculum reform,” Kellermann said. “We’ve had better exam 

performance [recently] than any 

time in the history of this school.

“The School is ranked in 

the top 100 percent for growth of 

non-clinical revenue over the past 

five years,” he continued. “With an 

eleven percent increase, year over 

year, in funding. Almost all of that is 

research dollars going to our powerhouse centers and the work you are 

all doing.”

Kellermann went on to add 

one of the areas that the SOM could 

improve upon is diversity.

“We have substantially improved our diversity in medical student recruitment and we are now 

at or above the national norm,” he 

said. “We can and we will get better at the level of faculty as well but 

that takes longer because there is a 

very low turnover for the School of 

Medicine. We want the best, most 

talented, most dedicated people in 

America to come here and join with 

us to basically teach America. We 

pick the best talent, irrespective of 

background, diversity will take care 

of itself.”

The address ended with 

Kellermann taking questions from 

faculty and announcing the results 

of the manpower survey response. . 

The SOM came in with 96 percent 

response while the GSN won with 

100 percent response. 

Dr. Arthur Kellermannn, dean of the 

SOM at USU (Photo by Tom Balfour).
6 the pulse April 25, 2016

USU Students Take 2nd Place in International Global Health Competition

See Competition Page 7

Courtesy article by Global Health Interest Group

The Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences 

(USU) recently sent a team of students to Atlanta to compete in the 

8th annual International Emory 

Global Health Case Competition. 

The students received second place 

in the competition for their solution 

and won a cash prize.

The Emory Global Health 

Institute sponsors the competition 

every year to provide students with 

the unique opportunity to work 

across disciplines to solve complex 

and critical global health problems. 

This year’s competition included 

137 students, who represented 24 

universities from the United States, 

Canada, Australia, and Mexico.

The USU team members 

included Laura Kropp (fourth year 

EID graduate student), Kalpana Parvathaneni (third year MCB graduate 

student), Johanna Alfier (second 

year DrPH graduate student), Tarah Woodle (MS1, USAF), Yaroslav 

Bodnar (MS3, USPHS), and Madeline Fleit (MS1, USA). The Director 

of the USU Global Health Working 

Group, Dr. Edwin Burkett, served as 

the faculty mentor for the USU student team.

To prepare for the competition, the USU team spent months 

reviewing previous cases, reading 

and discussing global health articles, and attending lectures by the 

many global health experts at USU. 

However, the students were not able 

to prepare for the specific topic of 

the 2016 case, as it was not released 

until the week prior to the competition date. Once the 2016 case was 

released, the students researched the 

topic in order to design their solution, including the social, cultural, 

political, economic, and medical aspects.

The 2016 case, titled “Restoring Women’s Dignity: Preventing and Treating Obstetric Fistulas 

in India”, was framed as a hypothetical letter from Government of India. The letter requested a multidisciplinary, evidence-based approach 

to prevent and/or treat obstetric 

fistulas in one state of India over a 

five-year timeframe. The budget for 

the proposal was not to exceed $30 

million.

Students were asked to select and address the needs of one 

particular state of India, that would 

serve as a pilot for their intervention. Thus, the intervention was to 

be scalable to the rest of India after 

the five-year timeframe.

During the week leading up 

to the competition, the students researched successful campaign methods that addressed the needs to rural 

and tribal populations in India. The 

students also extensively studied 

the existing health infrastructure in 

India and identified gaps in health 

care, policies, and programs in maternal and child health, weighing 

the costs associated with treating 

versus preventing obstetric fistula.

In the end, the students decided the best way to tackle the problem was to prevent obstetric fistula 

by increasing access for rural and 

tribal at-risk women to emergency 

cesarean sections. The students designed a comprehensive program 

called “LIFE: Labor Intervention for 

obstetric Fistula Elimination”, which 

detailed their solution.

At Emory University, the 

students presented their intervention to a panel of judges, which included subject matter experts Dr. 

Helen de Pinho and Maurice Middleberg. The 15-minute presentation was followed by a 10 minutes 

of questions from judges. The team 

received notice that they were selected to advance to the final round. 

Before the final round, a “curve ball” 

was thrown at them. Along with the 

other finalists, they were asked to 

incorporate policies on child marriage into their intervention. The 

team was given 30 minutes to do so, 

then asked to present in front of 10 

expert judges and the 20 non-finalist teams. The team was elated when 

it was announced that they won second place overall.

Along with the prize money 

and recognition, additional perks of 

the competition included: 1) meeting pioneers in global health from 

Emory University and the Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention, 

2) a trip to the Emory University 

USU International Emory Global Health Case Competition team from left to 

right: Navy Ens. Tarah Woddle, Army 2nd Lt. Madeline Fleit, Johanna Alfier 

(DrPH student), Kalpana Parvathaneni (PhD Candidate), USPHS Ens. Yaroslav 

Bodnar, and team captain Laura Kropp (PhD Candidate). (Courtesy photo)
7 the pulse April 25, 2016

Competition from Page 6

USU Reminds Members of Rules Regarding Political Activity 

campus in Atlanta, and 3) ability to 

represent USU in matching team 

t-shirts.

Overall, the International 

Emory Global Health Case Competition provided a unique opportunity for teams to work on a public 

health problem completely outside 

of their research interests. Further, 

it gave the team new insights on 

strategies to tackle global health 

problems.The competition taught 

valuable skills such as strategic planning, measuring specific outcomes, 

planning for potential pitfalls, and 

teamwork. The experience will undoubtedly aid them in their future 

careers as global health leaders. 

The team will present their solution 

to USUHS faculty and students on 

May 18. The team encourages any 

student at USU who is interested in 

global health to consider joining the 

Global Health Interest Group and 

competing next year. 

The political and emotional 

energy in the air ramping up to this 

year’s general presidential election 

is picking up. As electrified as some 

potential voters are, the Uniformed 

Services University wants to remind 

people there are DOs and DON'Ts 

during this year's election season. 

"Military members have to 

remember that they are military 

members all of the time, and if they 

violate the terms of the DOD instructions [DODi 1344.10], they can 

be subject to disciplinary action," 

said Uniformed Services University 

of the Health Sciences (USU) Brigade Judge Advocate, Air Force Major Janet Skow. ”

She acknowledged that it 

can be easy for a servicemember to 

forget that they represent the armed 

forces and the uniformed regulations even when not in uniform.

“It’s easy to go home, get 

out of your uniform, get on social 

media and forget that you’re in the 

military,” she said. “That’s why you 

always have to be conscious of what 

you’re doing and how you’re representing yourself like on social media.”

She said everyone should 

analyze their social media accounts 

for anything that can be perceived as 

endorsement or any other violation 

of the instructions.

“It’s just too easy for someone to click on a profile and see your 

political affiliation. Take a look at 

your social media pages. If you profile has you associated with a DOD 

By Eric Ritter facility like USU, you have to have 

a disclaimer that your views are not 

the views associated with the military when writing about things that 

are political.”

The DODi instruction 

1344.10 does have very detailed 

criteria for other general political 

activities. Members on active duty 

may not campaign for a partisan 

candidate, engage in partisan fundraising activities, serve as an officer 

of a partisan club, or speak before a 

partisan gathering. All military personnel should avoid the inference 

that their political activities imply or 

appear to imply DOD sponsorship, 

approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign or cause. 

Members may, however, 

express their personal opinions on 

political candidates and issues, and 

make monetary contributions to a 

political campaign or organization, 

so long as these activities are done 

in the personal capacity and no official endorsement is implied. Members may also attend political events 

as a spectator when not in uniform. 

Members may sign a petition provided the signing does not obligate 

them to engage in partisan political 

activity and is done in their private 

capacity and not as a representative 

of the Air Force. Members may also 

write letters to the editor expressing 

their personal views on public issues 

or political candidates, if it is not 

part of an organized letter-writing 

campaign or a solicitation of votes 

for or against a political party, partisan political cause or a candidate.

Skow did add that if a servicemember feels an activity is questionable, it’s best to err on the side of 

caution and avoid the activity.

“Things can get very emotional,” she 

said. “But, you have to learn how 

to temper that and keep in balance 

with rules.”

Civilian employees also have 

restrictions in regards to political 

activity. DOD civilian employees' 

participation in political activities is 

regulated by a number of sources including the Hatch Act, implementing regulations found in the Code of 

Federal Regulations, as well as DOD 

policy. For the purposes of the Hatch 

Act, a political activity is defined as 

"an activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, 

candidate for partisan political office or partisan political group." Importantly, application of the Hatch 

Act rules varies depending on an 

employee's position or office. If a 

USU federal civilian employee does 

not know which rules pertain to 

their position, they should contact 

USU Human Resources.

Skow did conclude that even 

though there are many rules, in 

particular, for servicemembers, she 

stressed that the DOD wants everybody eligible to pursue their right to 

vote.

“The DOD absolutely wants 

people to vote and to express their 

opinion,” said said. “Members just 

need to remember they have certain 

rules they have to follow when doing it.”
8 the pulse April 25, 2016

Final Frame

During a “Snakes Alive” presentation on April 13 at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 

(USU), snake expert Bruce Shwedick explains to the USU crowd about the non-venomous Albino Burmese Python. 

Shwedick gave the Snakes Alive presentation to medical students and staff at USU as part of the tropical medicine 

course for USU's Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics on April 13.

Since 1982, Shwedick has been giving the "Snakes Alive" presentation at USU. The program focuses on "medically important species" snakes that are responsible for most cases of snakebite, such as the Copperhead and the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. Students learned about the regions of the world where snakebite is most prevalent, the 

effects of snake venom and medical protocols. (Photo by Tom Balfour)