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within your spaces. Also, route a copy of your watchbill to the senior watch officer, so it
can be incorporated with the other departments watchbills (Quarterdeck watches,
Engineering watches, Security watches, etc.) into the final ship s watchbill.
In addition, just as your people are on a watchbill, so are they on a working party list.
Generally, Medical does not have to send anyone until it is a 45 to 50 hand working
party, and technically Medical is only supposed to be there in the role of a safety
observer. That is how you will write it in your instructions. The reality, however, is that
since your people eat the food and use the supplies that are loaded by the working
parties, there is no reason that they can t hump boxes like the next sailor. It saves
putting your people in an uncomfortable situation with their peers.
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Chapter 8, TRAINING
YOURSELF
There are no other years in a medical career that will depend so heavily on personal
initiative for success. Not much real self-motivation was required to get through
internship, since there was always someone looking over your shoulder to provide
endless inspiration. All that changes drastically when aboard ship. You are very much
on your own. Not only do you have to provide self-motivation, but also you will be
required to make many decisions previously made for you.
It is easy to become lazy and fall into the trap of not continuing your medical education.
A day off becomes a week, a week a month, and a month a year. Before you know it the
entire two years of operational medicine has been an educational black hole and a
waste of time (exactly what you feared in the beginning). If that occurs, it is a self-
fulfilling prophecy. There is no one to blame but you. While you certainly have to show
extra incentive, opportunities for ongoing education are present, and, in fact, there is
more latitude to pursue your own interests than you probably have ever had in the past.
Make a study plan before you board ship. If you are going to return to a residency in
Internal Medicine, you might want to obtain the Internal Medicine Board Study Guide. If
you are going into a subspecialty, this may be your last chance to study broadly in
medicine and surgery. This is also a good time to begin to plan for your graduate
medical education. Discussing the status of the specialty you are considering with the
specialty advisor along with early planning for interviews will give you a leg up over
those waiting until the last minute.
Many of us have curiosities that go well beyond the specialties of medicine but have not
had time to pursue these interests. There are medical CME courses through the AMA,
Medical Letter, and Scientific American to name a few. Several colleges, including
Universities of California, Chicago, and Maryland, offer a variety of correspondence
courses at the college and graduate level.
Your ship may be homeported in an area where courses are offered. You can use these
opportunities to indulge yourself; take up some non-academic pursuits in which you
always have had an interest. When will you have another chance to learn how to scuba
dive, parasail, windsurf, or play polo? Also, bring along those books you always wanted
to read but never had the chance.
If you view the Navy as a career, there will be a time when you will become involved in
administration. Before you scream heresy, take a moment s reflection: if physicians
are not willing to administrate themselves, someone else will, and do so happily. Many
command and senior staff billets are now coded 2XXX, which means that any Medical
Department officer may fill them. There is nothing wrong with Medical Service Corps,
Dental Corps and Nurse Corps officers being commanders of hospitals and health care
facilities, but they are not physicians. If we physicians wish to be competitive for
command, we must train ourselves to plan and administer health care, as well as
provide it on an individual basis. Numerous graduate programs are available, one
through the University of Southern California (Master of Science in Systems
Management), which may prove invaluable later in your career.
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Related to that subject is the recurring subject of leadership. The Navy has a series of
courses that are mandatory for certain levels of responsibility. Once called Leadership
Management Effectiveness Training (LMET) and undergoing constant change, the
series is an important step in advancement for you and those who work for you. In
addition, there are professional Navy Doctor courses, like the CATF Surgeon Course
and others, that can prepare you to do more and better within the afloat Navy.
The Navy offers various correspondence courses, both medical and military. The
medical ones cover a wide range of topics Communicable Diseases in Man, Cold
Weather Medicine, Heat Stress, and Combat Casualty Care, to name a few. Not only do
these help you easily learn these topics, but also most of them give you Continuing
Medical Education Credits, something most state licensing boards require. These are
also very good for your corpsmen to do, so encourage them. The ship s Educational
Services Office (ESO) has a complete listing of available courses that is contained in
NAVEDTRA 10052, and they will help you send off for them.
Part of your education will include reading the various instructions and manuals that
pertain to Navy programs and your Medical Department. This book lists governing
instructions for the subject areas covered, but to obtain a complete listing of all Navy
instructions, look at The Department of the Navy Consolidated Subject Index,
NAVPUBINST 5215.1 series. All current Navy instructions by category and subject
listing i.e., SECNAV, OPNAV, etc. are presented. This instruction is located in the
Admin office.
SHIPBOARD QUALIFICATIONS
Since you are now assigned to a ship, you must become 3M and Damage Control
qualified, as must your people (more in 3M and DC section). There is also another
qualification that you should work for: the Surface Warfare Medical Department
Officer (SWMDO) pin. This pin is tough to earn and only a select few docs succeed. It
was initiated in 1991 and revised completely in 1998. Pursuit of the pin means learning
a great deal about how your crewmember patients do business day-to-day, along with
how you fit into the scheme of things. It demonstrates to the crew that you care about
what they do, that you want to meet them on their turf, and that you view yourself as
every bit as much as Naval officer as they are you just don t know as much about their
job as they do. It also demonstrates a little humility and a lot of professionalism. The
knowledge you ll accrue will make you a safer, more trustworthy shipmate, aware of how
the ship works and helpful in an emergency. All of that matters to your patients.
In preparing for the SWMDO insignia, you ll find that many of the requirements you
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