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Rebecca A. Perron  |  NMCP Public Affairs

July 06, 2010

Naval Medical Center Portsmouth held the Intern Class of 2009-2010 graduation June 30 in NMCP’s auditorium, where Rear Adm. Thomas R. Cullison, deputy surgeon general and vice chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, was the guest speaker. This year’s class represents the 86th year in a row that the Navy’s Graduate Medical Education program, which began in 1924, has graduated fully licensable physicians to serve the fleet around the world.

This year’s class was composed of 70, including 63 Navy, five Air Force and two civilian interns. The Navy began taking Air Force interns when Hurricane Katrina devastated Keesler Air Force Base in 2005.

As first-year medical officers, they have completed internship training in internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, otolaryngology, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery and the transitional year programs. Unlike civilian programs, NMCP’s interns are also trained to serve their country as officers as well as physicians. They have completed a rigorous program of general medical training to support the nation’s military forces and are now eligible for their medical license.

During the ceremony, Capt. Matthew Pommer, NMCP’s acting commander, addressed the interns before introducing Cullison.

“You are the future of Navy Medicine and the future of our Navy,” Pommer said.  “Congratulations shipmates, you made it to the end… almost.  Today you stand on the heritage and tradition of over 180 years of historic service to our nation. You are now part of American history.”

Cullison then took the familiar stage, having previously served as the Portsmouth medical center’s commander and deputy commander. He spoke off the cuff to the interns and their families, comparing the great strides Navy Medicine has taken since the Vietnam conflict, when he was a line officer, to the conflicts of today. Cullison was commissioned in 1968, finished medical school in 1979 and completed his internship and residency at Naval Medical Center San Diego in the early 1980s.

“In 1968, a war had been going on for seven years,” Cullison said. “Today, a war has been going on for a very long time. The dedication of Navy Medicine in 1968, when I was a line officer, to today has not changed at all. What is different is the country. Today, both sides of the debate over whether the war is right support medicine. The reason that debate is not [aimed at the service member] is because we have an all-volunteer force. But if you look at the force we have today, it is night and day from our draft force [during Vietnam].

“We didn’t have people who have the level of training that we have today,” Cullison said. “After the Vietnam War, we began to focus on quality of care to build the medical structure we have today. Focus on how to provide graduate medical education and how we take care of our patients as well.”

Cullison explained that the Navy would not have had the success in the first Gulf War and today if it were not for the dedication of Navy Medicine, and that continued success has allowed the Navy to respond quickly to emergencies.

“Ten years ago, the Navy would not have been able to send 550 people to Haiti at a moment’s notice overnight,” Cullison said. “So you are benefitting from our experience over the last 30 years.”

He then told the interns they must master to the best of their ability the specialty they are about to pursue. They must take the care of their patients seriously.

“The most important patient you’re ever going to take care of is the one in front of you,” Cullison said.  “You have been training at a major medical center. The purpose of this hospital is to take care of patients. Your job is to be the medical capability of your unit and add expertise to the team. All of the corpsmen, all of the nurses, all of the line officers will look to you as a doctor.  So when you get out there in your general medical officer role or residency role, start teaching your team around you to help you, as the head of that team, to take care of patients.”

Cullison concluded by saying, “Enjoy today and take good care of your sailors and Marines.”

The interns’ next step is residency programs at NMCP or duty stations around the world: 28 will remain at NMCP to pursue a three-year residency to become specialists in their field of medicine; 13 are assigned to Pensacola, Fla., many to be flight surgeons; 12 will be doctors at Camp Lejeune, N.C., many assigned to the Marines; six are assigned to Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn., many specializing in undersea medicine. The rest are assigned around the world or serving as general medical officers on ships such as USS Nassau, USS Iwo Jima, USS Enterprise and USS Harry S Truman. Others will serve at naval hospitals and medical facilities in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Guam, Japan, Italy, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and others.

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