Newswise — Bethesda, Md – For the last four years, students from all over the United States have been ‘learning to care for those in harm’s way’ at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), the nation’s only federal health sciences university, operated by the Department of Defense. On Saturday, May 19, these more than 200 uniformed and civilian medical professionals and scientists will take the final step towards that goal as they receive advanced degrees at USU’s 33rd Commencement Exercise. Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles B. Green, the United States Air Force Surgeon General and a family physician, will deliver the commencement address to students, faculty, family members and other guests at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, acknowledging the 40th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1972, and the role that USU graduates play in caring for service members and their families at home and abroad.
Unlike at any other commencement ceremony, shortly after the last medical student crosses the stage to accept their diploma and the graduates of the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine recite the Hippocratic Oath, these new physicians will take their respective service Oath of Office, completing their transition from students to uniformed medical corps officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service.
The F. Edward Hebert of Medicine will award 158 Doctor of Medicine degrees and 55 biomedical sciences graduate degrees, which will include the first graduates from USU’s Masters of Health Administration and Policy program. The Graduate School of Nursing will award 35 Master of Science degrees in the Family Nurse Practitioner, Perioperative Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Anesthesia, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner disciplines, as well as 6 Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Nursing Science. The Postgraduate Dental College will also be awarding, for the first time, 28 Master of Oral Biology degrees in separate ceremonies.
The Commencement ceremony will be broadcast through live-stream at www.dar.org/usuhs, www.dar.org/graduation, and www.dar.org/watchgraduation.----
Located on the grounds of the Naval Support Activity-Bethesda, also the home of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is the nation’s only federal health sciences university. USU students are primarily active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who have received specialized education and training in tropical and infectious diseases, preventive medicine, the neurosciences (to include TBI and PTSD), disaster response and humanitarian assistance, and acute trauma care. A large percentage of the university’s more than 4,800 physician and 500 advanced practice nursing alumni are supporting operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, offering their leadership and expertise. USU also has graduate programs in biomedical sciences and public health, open to civilian and military applicants committed to excellence in research, which have awarded more than 400 doctoral and 800 masters degrees to date. For more information, visit www.usuhs.mil.
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