Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Woods | Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Camp Lejeune commemorated the first...... read more read more
Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Camp Lejeune graduated the first fellows from the Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant Fellowship Program. During the ceremony held Dec. 19 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Lieutenant Ryan Martzall and Lieutenant Jenny Oliver received certificates of completion for the 18-month program.
The new program officially kicked off in July 2024 and consists of academics, didactics, and various clinic rotations to include time spent in anesthesia, optometry, OB/GYN and other clinics. Both Martzall and Oliver logged care for more than 1,400 patients during that timeframe.
“The EMPA Fellowship allowed me to spend 18 months training in a learner status to improve my skills. I feel much more autonomous and equipped to take care of patients that are in my care,” said Martzall.
Martzall will be headed to Okinawa, Japan with 3d Medical Battalion, while Oliver’s next stint as an EMPA will be with Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System Team 2 at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.
“This is an incredibly demanding and rigorous program, but I have learned so much. I am much more equipped to manage medically complex patients or patients who have sustained traumatic injuries,” Oliver said.
One feature of the EMPA Fellowship Program is the breadth of knowledge participants receive locally, regionally, and nationally. Rotation sites for further instruction include East Carolina University Health, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Hartford Health in Connecticut.
According to Program Director Lt. Cmdr. Carolan Whitney, the profession of an EMPA is versatile, being able to be utilized on any platform in Navy Medicine.
“EMPAs can be relied on to take care of the warfighter in many different roles, including sea, land or air, and either part of a team or independently ... we have the clinical knowledge and medical decision-making skills in acute evaluation, resuscitation, critical care and management of adult and pediatric patients,” explained Whitney. “We are capable and competent to provide care wherever Navy Medicine calls us to serve.”
The next class of fellows begins the program in the summer of 2026. Both graduates recommend application to the program for fellow Navy Medicine officers.
“The EMPA Program is rigorous and demanding, but it is fulfilling to better yourself as anEmergency Medicine provider and as a Physician Assistant,” said Martzall. “I am happy to be a plank owner in the EMPA Fellowship out of Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune.”
NMRTC Camp Lejeune is the readiness platform for Navy Medicine personnel attached to Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, a military medical treatment facility on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Eastern North Carolina.
| Date Taken: | 12.22.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2025 11:50 |
| Story ID: | 555139 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
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