Photo By Lt. Amanda Kundrat | Lt. Cmdr. Amy Zabel, a Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examiner (SAMFE) instructor...... read more read more
U.S. Naval Hospital (USNH) Guam hosted the first approved mobile Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examiner (SAMFE) course to provide training and certification for joint medical personnel across the Indo-Pacific Region, Jan. 5, 2026.
Cmdr. Michelle McCormick and Lt. Cmdr. Amy Zabel, SAMFE instructors from Navy Medicine Training Support Command (NMTSC) San Antonio, taught the course for the first time away from San Antonio for two weeks at USNH Guam. This increased the readiness of our medical force by providing certificates for five joint medical providers from Guam and the Republic of Korea, including U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Army nurses and a U.S. Army physician.
“The mobile training team course has been the culmination of several years working with tri-service leadership to make it happen,” said Lt. Cmdr. Amy Zabel. “We identified this as a need for overseas commands to ensure the highest quality trauma-informed care for our service members and beneficiaries after going through such a horrible experience. We are honored to take this training worldwide.”
The SAMFE course is the only Department of War approved course for any examiner that conducts sexual assault forensic exams (SAFEs) within the military. It is a 2-week course that provides the training and skills needed to perform SAFEs. Students go through a 40-hour didactic training during the first week of the course. The second week is all hands-on training with students conducting practice forensic exams on trained medical role-players who simulate patient encounters. On the last day of the course, students spend time in a court room with local judge advocates learning about testifying and having a chance to get up on the witness stand.
This mobile SAMFE course has allowed USNH Guam and other regional commands to access this critical training without the expense of sending examiners to the course in San Antonio, Texas. USNH Guam has benefitted from having the two subject matter experts from the schoolhouse, McCormick and Zabel, come to the hospital to teach the course and provide the opportunity to do simulation exams for five existing examiners to maintain their credentials.
“This training significantly improved our team's ability to provide trauma informed care to warfighter and other beneficiaries.” said Lt. Jennifer Stephens, a SAMFE provider at USHN Guam.
“While we hope no one ever requires these services, we know that some will,” said USNH Director Capt. Joel Schofer. “It is essential that we have this capability and being able to offer the training here in Guam makes it much more likely it will be available when patients need it. We sincerely appreciate the willingness of our instructors from San Antonio to come to Guam and lend their expertise.”
This teamwork and collaboration between USNH Guam and NMTSC San Antonio and medical providers has expanded the medical capabilities across joint services in Guam to care for patients and service members.
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U.S. Naval Hospital Guam is a 282,000 square foot military treatment facility (MTF) that supports the joint forces and strengthens the island by projecting forward-deployed medical power, delivering high-quality care, and forging strategic partnerships. The MTF and its staff of nearly 700 offers a broad range of primary and specialty medical services in support of more than 27,000 beneficiaries.
| Date Taken: | 01.26.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2026 14:49 |
| Story ID: | 557479 |
| Location: | GU |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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