Newswise — First Lady Michelle Obama announced an unprecedented commitment made by more than 100 of the AAMC’s member medical schools to improve the health and wellness of military service members and their families as part of the Joining Forces initiative. The Jan. 11 announcement was made at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to a packed auditorium of active duty military, local government officials, and medical school students, faculty, and deans.
“Today the nation’s medical colleges are committing to creating a new generation of doctors, medical schools, and research facilities that will make sure that our heroes receive care that is worthy of their service,” Obama said. “It is an effort that’s led by the Association of American Medical Colleges… it also includes the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and 25 of its schools. Together these organizations are committing to train their medical students, as well as their current physicians, faculty, and staff to better diagnose and treat our veterans and military families.”
Joining Forces is a national initiative that mobilizes all sectors of society in support of America’s military in the areas of employment, education, and wellness, while also raising awareness about the needs and sacrifices of veterans and their families. The AAMC began its involvement with Joining Forces in March 2011with a call for submissions to the AAMC’s iCollaborative for learning modules addressing the treatment of U.S. service members and their families. Building on that first step, the AAMC asked its member medical schools to sign a pledge agreeing to improve the health care of the nation’s service members.
“Medical schools are uniquely positioned to have a tremendous impact on the health and wellness of service members and their families,” said AAMC Chief Academic Officer John Prescott, M.D. “Academic medicine combines the best of education, clinical care, and research to focus on this important segment of the population.”
As part of their commitment, participating medical schools agreed to enrich the medical education curriculum to ensure future physicians are equipped to treat the unique needs of the military, disseminate the most up-to-date information on conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), grow the body of knowledge available on health and wellness of veterans through new research and clinical trials, and collaborate with other institutions, agencies, and health care providers to deliver the best care possible.
“Partnerships between medical schools and Veterans Affairs medical centers have been absolutely critical in advancing care for TBI and PTSD,” said Jerome Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the VCU Health System. “We provide physician leadership and clinical facilities, which helped the Richmond VA establish a nationally-recognized polytrauma center for treating seriously injured American soldiers.”
At the VCU event, Army Specialist Cedric Holland shared his own experiences while serving in Afghanistan in 2009. Holland said he overcame headaches and many sleepless nights with the help of military medical specialists after he saw a bomb detonate, killing one and severely injuring four of his comrades.
According to the first lady, up to one in six veterans shows signs of PTSD, and an ordinary occurrence like a rock hitting a windshield can trigger a traumatic episode. While most people can try to understand on an intellectual level, if they’ve never been to war, they will never fully comprehend the true emotional cost, she said.
Obama reminded the medical students in the audience about the power of their chosen profession and the profound impact they can make on the lives of America’s veterans, calling it the “essence of true service.”
“In a time of war, when our troops and their families are sacrificing so much,” Obama said, “we all should be doing everything we can to serve them as much as they’re serving this country.”
https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/271082/120112.html
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