Photo By Douglas Stutz | Getting to the point…The past was honored by the present with a focus on the future...... read more read more
The past was honored by the present with a focus on the future as Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Bremerton celebrated the Navy Medical Corps 150th anniversary, March 3, 1871.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, the original date was commemorated with a brief ceremony which included well-wishes from all other Navy Medicine corps chiefs delivered from staff member representatives.
“This event kicked off a month long tribute to the Medical Corps and physicians, and will wrap up with National Doctor’s Day upcoming on March 30. Other corps have shown us a great example - the nurses have a weeklong celebration - so we decided to go big with the 150th and go for a month,” said Capt. Andrea Donalty, NMRTC Bremerton chief medical officer, general pediatrician and coordinator of the Medical Corps anniversary.
It was precisely 150 years ago that the 41st Congress enacted the Appropriations Act which established the Medical Corps as a separate entity and Navy staff corps.
“However, the legacy of physicians in the Navy and the presence of a Medical Department predates this anniversary,” explained Capt. Jeffrey Feinberg, NHB/NMRTC Bremerton executive officer. “Congress had already established the Continental Navy in 1774, and 24 years later, when the U.S. Navy Department was formally established there had already been physicians playing key roles in the Continental Navy in the rates of surgeon and surgeon’s mates with the first physicians reporting onboard warships in March, 1798.”
Feinberg noted that the surgeon’s medical kit at the time included all the top treatments of the day, including agents to induce blistering and bloodletting so that medical personnel could not only treat injuries but also treat and prevent illness.
“Now we practice with today’s state of the art equipment, medication, and technology, providing care not only in the traditional bedside manner but via virtual medicine, seeing some of the most impressive survival rates of wartime injuries we have ever known. Navy physicians are at military treatment facilities (MTFs) like ours, working in teaching facilities, clinics, research units, on ships, and with the Marines, serving our active duty forces, their beneficiaries and retirees,” Feinberg said.
Since the Navy Medical Corps’ inception, their collective responsibilities has expanded in scope and complexity. Navy physicians can be found at a number of locales on land as well as at sea. They are assigned in the aviation and undersea medical communities, and as astronauts exploring the frontiers of space. The Navy Medical Corps continues to pave new frontiers in biomedical research, medical education and training, and patient care delivery at MTFs, aboard afloat platforms and in combat theaters. Navy physicians also serve in billets with the Marine Corps, in the Attending Physician’s Office to Congress, as well as the White House.
“Navy Medical Corps physicians have served around the globe at sea, on land, and in many harsh environments providing vital medical care to warfighters - past and present - and their families,” remarked Donalty, affirming the corps continued commitment to the Navy Surgeon General top ‘four Ps’ priorities. “We deliver patient-centered care to our 'people,' have a presence on all 'platforms' across the world, continue to set exceptional consistent 'performance' and are dedicated in our chosen career fields to increase our Fleet and Marines survivability 'power' projection.”
Donalty noted that the Medical Corps is currently comprised of more than 4,300 active duty and reserve physicians who are practicing or training in dozens of medical and surgical specialties with over 200 subspecialties, including leadership roles.
Areas of specialties at NMRTC Bremerton with Medical Corps physicians include; anesthesiology, family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine with cardiology, neurology, and dermatology as subspecialties; mental health, with psychiatrists, OB/GYN, occupational medicine, otorhinolaryngology (Ears, Nose, & Throat clinic), ophthalmology, orthopedic, pathology, pediatrics, radiology, and urology.
NMRTC Bremerton physicians have also been at the fore in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.
In addressing his Medical Corps colleagues, Rear Adm. James L. Hancock, Navy Medical Corps chief wrote, ‘as we pause this week to celebrate our Navy Medical Corps 150th birthday, I am reminded that this also signifies the almost one year that we have been supporting our civilian colleagues in fighting the coronavirus within the U.S. I am honored to serve as your corps chief and am deeply impressed with the commitment, professionalism and fortitude I see every day. Our physician corps has demonstrated incomparable skills, experience, diversity and dedication time and again. The readiness of our Sailors and Marines as well as the care for our family members and veterans is reached every day for the singular purpose of applying our passion for the healing arts and love of country.”
As with most, if not all, Navy Medicine corps anniversary events, the traditional cake-cutting was handled by the senior corps officer present, assisted by the most junior member.
Capt. Barth Merrill, family physician wielded the carving knife, supported by Lt. Robert Neiberger, undersea medical officer. Before cutting, Merrill took a moment to address his contemporaries and co-workers.
“I can’t imagine spending the last two decades anywhere else. The diversity in working environments and the people we get to work with – Medical Service Corps, Dental Corps, Nurse Corps, civil service and especially our hospital corpsmen - is truly special. I hope it’s as enjoyable for others as it has been for me,” commented Merrill.
There are currently over 100 Navy Medical Corps – active duty, civil service, contractor, and volunteer – assigned to NHB, each continuing their corps legacy that officially began 150 years ago.
| Date Taken: | 03.03.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.03.2021 18:19 |
| Story ID: | 390516 |
| Location: | BREMERTON, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 363 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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