Page 163 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Summer 2015

interpersonal skills that come with life and the job, and etc.). Taking care of your spirit and psychological health,
having the mission experiences they do. whether it is the love and nourishment you get from your
family, faith, friends, or other pursuits, provides you with
What’s most important to your PJs today? that last intangible piece to remain capable of working at
I can only answer that from my perspective, and that is your highest level to do the best job possible for those
an incredible impetus for me to do a survey and find out. we serve.
With that said, I believe getting out our new handbook,
standardizing and dialing in extended care, improving Second, when I was finishing my radiation oncology resi-
our approach to human performance, sports medicine, dency in 1989, I remember reading a study on oncologist
and psychological health are among critical areas that I burnout. The results were clear: physicians who devoted
have heard from the men. themselves completely to their profession had the most
burnout. Conversely, those who were academic physi-
Any thoughts on current challenges cians and taught and performed research (balanced ap-
in preparing PJs for the future? proach), and those in private practice who took time off,
had the least burnout. Any profession like ours, which
The challenges are related to the evolving mission and can be emotionally draining and physically demanding,
role of PJs on those missions. Refinements in gear and is often unsustainable without balance in and out of your
techniques need to be more adaptive in real time.
profession.

Any other current work aims?
Finally, another approach was advice from an “old lady
We finally got the podcasts, “PJ MEDCAST,” off the next door” in a Vince Flynn spy novel. Paraphrasing, she
ground. The podcasts help us to further standardize op- said something like: find work you love, something you
erational medical care for PJs out of the schoolhouse as love to do, and someone you love to do it with.
things change. Guys download podcasts for PT [physi-
cal training], car rides, and long flights. Medcasts allow Future plans?
me to get more info out to more men who are scattered In SOMA, we are excited to get the medic scholarship
around the globe. We are actually able to apply some of fund off the ground and try to make it more and more
the hours towards paramedic recertification, which saves meaningful for the Operators pursuing further healthcare
some time for the men. Medcasting has led to an effort education and professional development. In Pararescue, I
this year to introduce a website for open-source info to hope to engage more PJs to help the career field develop
complement [PJ MEDCAST] with a video library of proce- other aspects of Pararescue medicine, and continue to in-
dures and a photo library of physical findings with which crease the enthusiasm and culture for the medical piece
we most commonly deal.
of rescue.
Any guidance for the operational medicine Closing thoughts for the
community on life–work balance? Work longevity?
operational medicine community?
I have gotten a lot out of Eastern philosophy, and tak- I have been humbled to have the opportunity to sup-
ing the middle path has always paid off. The answer, of port the mission and develop friendships in Parares-
course, is in your question regarding balance. Work lon- cue and the larger op med community. I have begun to
gevity is related to the balance and avoiding burnout, count on people like you, CAPT (Ret) Frank Butler, COL
but also making sure you are a medical Operator for the (Ret) Russ Kotwal, LTC Bob Mabry, MSG Harold (Monty)
altruistic reason that gives you meaning and purpose. Montgomery, SGM F. Bowling, Col (Ret) Warren Dorlac,
The data for the importance of purpose and meaning are and many others across the DoD and US Government
overwhelming. But here are three thoughts:
who have made the PJs better, and allowed Pararescue to
provide whatever support we can both operationally and
First, we have always heard mind, body, and spirit are three with institutional knowledge. The ability to develop rela-
pillars for individual health and happiness. Development tionships across this community with people of character
of the mind by learning and continually improving as a and substance provides added inspiration to pursue the
medical professional is part of reaching our potential and nobility of the missions you all do.
the human condition. Taking care of your body (nutrition,
fitness, sleep, stress management, injury prevention, and
reduction) will not only improve your job performance, The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private
but improves mood, judgment, and higher cognitive views of the author and are not to be construed as official or
function, and also increases the likelihood of a full career as reflecting the views of the Departments of the Army and Air
and retiring as whole as possible (e.g., reducing the risk of Force or the Department of Defense.
arthritis, joint replacement, bad backs, cognitive decline,

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