Medical students deploy for battlefield exercise
Medical students and graduate nursing students of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) will be airlifted from the university's campus in Bethesda, Md.
USU conducts Operation Kerkesner, a first-year medical student exercise, and Operation Bushmaster, a fourth-year medical student exercise, run concurrently in July at Fort Indiantown Gap. Both are final practical exams for unique courses in the USU Department of Military and Emergency Medicine and are designed to closely replicate combat conditions and to test the students' abilities to care for people in adverse environments and adverse situations.
These field exercises are unique to USU's medical school curriculum and are designed to ensure that USU graduates are well prepared to practice "good medicine in bad places." Students participating in the training will begin the exercise with the airlift from the campus to give them a better understanding of the limitations of medical care while in-flight.
USU, which is located on the grounds of the National Naval Medical Center, is the nation's federal school of medicine and graduate school of nursing. The students are active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who are being educated to deal with wartime casualties, national disasters, emerging infectious diseases and other public health emergencies. Many of the university's graduates are currently supporting operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, offering both their leadership and expertise. Approximately one-fourth of all military medical officers currently serving on active duty are graduates of USU.
Media interested in observing the scheduled airlift, or in attending the field training exercise in Pennsylvania, should call the Office of External Affairs at (301) 295-1219.
Contact Information
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
Email Contact
Resources
- MEM Home
- Additional Information
- Bushmaster History (Part I)
- Bushmaster Schedule
- Kerkesner Schedule
- MCM Overview
- CIA Country Study
- Medical Capabilities Overview Pandakar
- Pandakar Environmental Health Risk Assessment
- Pandakar Infectious Disease Risk Assessment
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