WBAMC graduates Soldiers and civilians from GME program

Photo By Marcy Sanchez | Col. John A. Smyrski III (left), commander, William Beaumont Army Medical Center and Dr. John P. Schriver, director of medical education, WBAMC, present a gift of appreciation to guest speaker, Dr. James R. Ficke, chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, during the GME graduation at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, June 18. The WBAMC GME program trains physicians, medical students and other health care professionals by placing equal emphasis on patient care, teaching and research.  

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

06.22.2016

Story by Marcy Sanchez  

William Beaumont Army Medical Center

The Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program, William Beaumont Army Medical Center, held a graduation ceremony for GME residents and interns at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, June 18.
The graduates completed either residency requirements or internship programs at WBAMC. Programs included internal medicine residency and internship, orthopedic surgery residency and internship, general surgery residency and internship, oral and maxillofacial residency, transitional year internship, and the U.S. Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing.
“They’ve done a great job,” said Dr. John P. Schriver, Chief of GME Program, WBAMC. “Everything they’ve done is under the sight of the teaching staff, so they can provide safe delivery of care while completing graduate medical education.”
Forty eight officers comprised this year’s graduating class. Graduates will go on to serve in various staff assignments, begin fellowship programs, or continue residency programs at WBAMC or other programs. Among the graduates were 29 interns and 19 residents.
“They have completed one phase in their careers; hopefully this is the beginning of something truly amazing,” said Col. John A. Smyrski III, commander, WBAMC.
“Our interns are completing their initial year which then allows them to get their medical license,” said Schriver. “Many transitional year interns are pre-selected to go on to other institutions but they do their initial year of training here as well.”
The demanding programs are comprised of lengthy residencies at WBAMC including a three-year residency program for internal medicine, a five-year residency program for orthopedic surgery and a six-year residency program for general surgery. Residents may work up to 80 hours per week during training.
“Our general surgery program is one of two programs in Army Medicine that has a 100 percent board pass rate,” said Schriver, a native of Anderson, South Carolina. “We hire 100 percent of the Soldiers we train in the military health system so it behooves us to train them well.”
Dr. James R. Ficke, Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, served as guest speaker. He spoke to the graduates with words of encouragement and advised them to live in the present, not the future.
Ficke, a retired Army Medicine colonel and native of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, spent 30 years of as an Army orthopedic surgeon and today heads a department in a top ranking medical school.
“What I’ve found is what we learn in military medicine is the same material that we teach our residencies at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,” said Ficke. “The education is the same but I think it’s better in some places.”
Ficke believes the Army’s unique nature allows GME graduates to experience a closer bond to their patients and connect with them as fellow Soldiers.
“In the Army I had more time to take care of patients, to see patients and to really get to know my patients,” said Ficke. “Those are things that I think are a tremendous plus for Army Medicine.”
According to Ficke, as an Army orthopedic surgeon he was well acquainted with national heroes such as Medal of Honor recipients Master Sgt. Roy Benavidez and Staff Sergeant Leroy Petry.
Ficke also believes other advantages Army physicians have include their responsibilities as officers and Soldiers.
“(GME graduates’) goal is to serve, and their purpose is to serve our Soldiers and they do that together,” said Ficke. “Graduates are also trained to be officers and professionals. If they understand how to serve others, they’re already ahead.”
William Beaumont Army Medical Center’s GME Program trains physicians, medical students and other health care professionals by placing equal emphasis on patient care, teaching and research. The GME program is in keeping with WBAMC’s mission of cultivating talented medical professionals into tomorrow’s medical leaders through education and cutting-edge research.

• Date Taken: 06.22.2016
• Date Posted: 06.22.2016 17:32
• Story ID: 202159
• Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US
• Hometown: ANDERSON, SC, US
• Hometown: STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO, US