Photo By Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Scott | Three people with diverse backgrounds and no known connections, decide to attend one...... read more read more
Three people with diverse backgrounds and no known connections, decide to attend one of the most demanding medical schools in the country, Johns Hopkins University. This group of three established a second connection unknowingly, when they decided to serve their country by joining the Maryland National Guard. The connection that inevitably united them was their assignments to the 104th Medical Company Area Support and Maryland State Medical Detachment.
The Army Medical Department was established in 1775, medical officers were not commissioned and therefore did not hold military rank. The Director General and Chief Physician had authority only over the hospitals established to support the Army. The War of 1812 necessitated the creation of a large military force once again. In 1818, the Congress established a permanent Medical Department. Medical officers still received no military rank but were organized within the department by the titles of Surgeon General, Regimental Surgeon, Post Surgeon, and Regimental Surgeon’s Mate.
The Medical Corps consists of officers representing the various specialties and subspecialties found in civilian medicine. Medical Corps officers may be assigned to clinical staff positions, executive leadership positions, as teaching faculty, to fixed military medical facilities, to deployable combat units or field hospitals, or to military medical research and development laboratories.
Today, the Army Medical Department is composed of over 5,000 active duty and reserve component physicians whose work not only impacts the lives of their fellow service members and families but also the practice of medicine around the world. These medical professionals support over 40,000 clinic visits to U.S. Army medical facilities and clinics around the world. The following service members fill the ranks of such medical warriors.
Capt. Daniel Nogee, originally from Maryland, was taught personal development, leadership, and outdoor survival skills by military veterans who led his Boy Scout troop. Nogee still enjoys hiking and spending time in the outdoors because of that experience.
“I took a course as a wilderness medical technician, and really liked it. [I] ended up going into the medical field partly for that reason and just had an interest in doing something military related.”
During medical school, Nogee met service members who told him about the opportunities the National Guard offers.
“The National Guard partners well with civilian medical training, in that you get the best of both worlds, and you’re able to use one to build [off] the other,” said Nogee.
His unit is supportive and lets him attend the school for the residency he wanted in Connecticut while continuing to serve in the Maryland National Guard and lending his experience to new soldiers in the medical field. After gaining experience and training in chemistry and biological defense operations through the Army, he decided to specialize in toxicology.
Thanks to his diverse experiences in the military, he was invited to contribute to a training text for combat medics in chemical, biological, and nuclear disaster preparation.
“A lot of upcoming medics in the Army will actually learn from the textbook chapter I wrote,” said Nogee. “I was able to write [it] because of my experiences in the Maryland National Guard.”
Capt. James Pendleton, originally from California, was inspired to follow his father’s footsteps as a doctor. He eventually went on to become a military physician. Pendleton explained that his father was his role model and taught him the values essential to being a doctor and also a soldier. His father encouraged competitiveness, empathy, compassion, and being observant.
“The ability to work with and learn from a diverse set of people tied by a shared commitment to service,” remarked Pendleton was a factor that drew him to being a military physician. “I am humbled by the opportunity to wear the uniform. The training experiences have been icing on the cake.”
It wasn’t long until Pendleton found one of the communities he wanted to serve as a medical professional and service member.
“[I] fell in love with Baltimore, fell in love with Hopkins, the people, history, and everything. [So] the Guard makes sense for me, because it’s a local commitment.”
Pendleton researches traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries and their treatment. Serving in the Medical Corps allowed him to utilize the military’s educational benefits to attain a doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. Through the combination of his civilian education, and hands-on training with his military experience, he said he is able to best use his unique expertise to provide the best medical care.
Maj. Matthew Miskimon, originally from Maryland, specializes in accident and emergency medicine. Family has always been important and growing up in a military family taught him about the importance of the Army values. Despite his parents’ separation and frequently moving, he overcame the barriers of an unstable childhood to become the first in his family to complete a university education.
“The instability of the living situation taught me how to emotionally and mentally prepare for other obstacles,” said Miskimon. “Why was I attracted to medicine? I think it was more opportunistic and accidental, rather than a direct pursuit.”
He knew he wanted to pursue a career in the sciences but had no specific career plans, beyond his mother’s wish for him to become a surgeon.
Ultimately he enlisted into the Maryland National Guard to support his family, increase his career skills, and gain experience as a combat medic. During his annual training he dealt with real-life emergencies and casualty care.
“A lot of what can be perceived as chaos is actually a controlled chaos,” said Miskimon. “You see the fire [department] working with police and working with the paramedics on a very structured approach to get everyone where they need to be in an efficient and timely manner.”
He said the experiences he had as a combat medic taught him the value of studying emergency medicine. After he entered medical school he applied and was directly commissioned into the Medical Corps.
“I got really excited when I joined and you know, from day one, that’s why I’ve turned one initial contract into my 22nd year. I could be here ‘till I’m 67. That’s how much I’ve enjoyed it.”
Miskimon also specializes in neuroscience, and earned his doctorate for his research on the NARP protein. Outside of both of his professions, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his family.
The Maryland National Guard and Johns Hopkins University are not only connected through these doctors, they are working together to establish a Federal Medical Station as an alternate medical facility at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. This site will start with 250 beds supporting the state’s effort to vastly expand available hospital bed space to accommodate people suffering from COVID-19. More than 2,000 Maryland National Guard members are activated to support Maryland’s response to COVID-19. The MDNG is working in close coordination with many agencies to support civil authorities. MDNG capabilities include medical augmentation, transportation support, food distribution, and more.
| Date Taken: | 03.30.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 03.31.2020 18:20 |
| Story ID: | 366180 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Meet a Few Healers with a Common Theme: Army Docs and JHU Alumni, by SPC Christina Chang and SGT Allen Griffith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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