Photo By Kie Savage | 260630-N-JB216-4202 Jacksonville, Fla. (June 30, 2026) Naval Hospital Jacksonville's...... read more read more
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Sixteen residents and 13 interns were honored during a June 30 graduation ceremony at Naval Air Station Jacksonville’s All Saints Chapel. The 29 physicians are the latest graduates of Naval Hospital (NH) Jacksonville’s award-winning Family Medicine Residency Program, which is currently celebrating its 56th year of continuous accreditation.
Each program participant enters as a medical school graduate, quickly diving into a demanding first-year rotation schedule. These junior officers are pushed through hands-on training in primary and inpatient care, emergency medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, general surgery, orthopedics, and dermatology. This broad exposure is vital, as program leadership emphasizes that these physicians are transitioning from students to operational medical assets who must be ready to support the fleet in any environment.
“As I look at our graduates today, I see the future of our Medical Corps. I see physicians ready to care for service members and their families. I see officers ready to lead with integrity. And I see colleagues prepared for the responsibility that comes next," said Associate Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Cmdr. Dustin Smith. "There will come a day when a patient, a Sailor, a Marine, a commanding officer, or a family member looks to you during a moment that truly matters. When that day comes, trust your training. Trust your values. Trust the physician and officer you have become.”
Capt. Craig Malloy, NH Jacksonville director and Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Jacksonville commanding officer, echoed this sentiment, noting the demands of their chosen path. “There will be long days in your positions, unexpected deployments, and moments when your training will be tested. But this residency has prepared you for more than clinical excellence," Malloy said. "It has prepared you to lead, to adapt, and to serve with integrity.”
To become board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), physicians must be licensed, successfully complete three years of accredited residency training, and pass the board certification exam. Upon completing their first year, some residents transition directly to the fleet as general medical officers, flight surgeons, or undersea medical officers. Others remain for two additional years of advanced training in specialized fields before being assigned globally as staff physicians providing care to active-duty personnel, retirees, and their families.
The practical application of this demanding pipeline resonated deeply with the graduating class. “The training was intense, we do in patient medicine, we do labor deck delivery, we rotate all around town at UF Health and Baptist Health, and we do children's ED, so it's intense training. I think it does prepare us well to serve the fleet,” said Lt. Aaron Summer, a graduating resident who is heading to his new assignment aboard the USS Fort Lauderdale in Norfolk, Va.
Lt. Mackenzie McCann, graduating intern, who will remain at NH Jacksonville to complete her advanced residency training, reflected on the balance of academic and hands-on operational learning.
“School taught me a lot, but practice teaches me more. This program is really wonderful in the way that it educates its residents in the clinic, in the hospital, on the labor deck, and even out in the fleet with helping some of our general medical officers," McCann said. "I think that there's so much more I need to do, but I've really treasured my time here because I learn more and more every day. I learn from my patients and their family members. I learn from our active-duty Sailors. I learn from my foreman and all my support staff, and most of all, I learn from our faculty.”
Ultimately, this rigorous training directly supports the overarching mission of the installation. NH Jacksonville and its five branch health clinics serve 175,000 active-duty, active-duty family members, and retired service members, including 57,000 enrolled primary care patients. Together with its five units, NMRTC Jacksonville ensures warfighters’ medical readiness to deploy and clinicians’ readiness to save lives in any environment. To learn more, visit: https//jacksonville.tricare.mil
| Date Taken: | 06.30.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2026 19:09 |
| Story ID: | 569192 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 286 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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