Page 37 - JSOM Summer 2022

Collaboration of a Medical School

With a Special Forces Group on Annual Training
A Blueprint

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Paul Brisson, MD, MS, FACP, FAAP ; David W. McGregor Jr, DO *; Zachary Murphy, DO 3

ABSTRACT
Collaboration on annual training between a medical school and modules, so we wanted to include them as assistant faculty.
a National Guard Special Forces Group can be accomplished We recruited students primarily from our Military Club
with great benefit to both parties. The authors describe the in- (Student Association of Osteopathic Military Physicians
volvement by the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgeons) since they were interested in associating with
in providing training for the 20th Special Forces Group Medi- the medical National Guard members.
cal Sergeants of the Alabama Army National Guard. 5. Request permission of the medical school dean to conduct
the training activity. We presented a detailed proposal, in-
Keywords: training; collaboration; volunteers; military training; cluding the budget, to our medical school dean. The dean
medical school was incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about the activ-
ity and provided rapid approval. Our dean agreed to have
the medical school cover the expenses related to the budget
items.
Introduction
The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) Once the dean’s approval was obtained and a date was chosen,
involvement in providing training for the 20th Special Forces a training agenda was published.
Group Medical Sergeants of the Alabama Army National
Guard (Z.M.) was initiated by a request submitted to us by No memoranda were required.
a representative of the AL-ARNG who brought a proposal to
the VCOM chair of surgery (P.B.) for consideration. The chair Results
of surgery worked with the associate dean for research and
other faculty to develop a plan of training. VCOM Auburn Twenty-two members of the 20th Special Forces Group Med-
campus was established 4 years earlier and had not provided ical Sergeants of the Alabama Army National Guard attended
such training for any military entity. the training. All the members participated in all 10 training
modules and all members completed the posttraining survey
forms (Figure 1). The most popular modules (in order of pop-
Methods
ularity) were:
1. Create a proposed agenda. The agenda was based on the
needs of the 20th Special Forces Group Medical Sergeants FIGURE 1 Survey of participants regarding training modules.
and the capabilities of the medical school. This required
two in-person meetings; one included a tour of the med-
ical school with particular emphasis on the anatomy lab
and simulation center. The medical school chair of surgery
thought that 10 training modules could be conducted over
1.5 days. A plan for evaluation of the training, by survey of
the faculty and attendees, was included.
2. Create an estimated budget. Our budget included only
disposable goods and supplies that were purchased for
the training ($1300). Cost of space and faculty were not
included.
3. Recruit faculty. Once the training agenda was finalized, 1. Obstetrics (which involved delivery of an infant by simula-
medical school faculty needed to be recruited to conduct tor and conducted by an obstetrician/gynecologist)
the training. That turned out to be no problem since the 2. Dental extractions (conducted by two dentists using
faculty was very enthusiastic about providing the training. cadavers)
4. Recruit medical students to assist in the training. Our med- 3. Application of cricoid pressure (conducted by a general
ical students had experience with many of the training surgeon)
*Correspondence to dmcgregor@auburn.vcom.edu
1 COL (Ret) Paul Brisson is director of surgery, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Fort Belvoir, VA. Dr David McGregor is PGY-1 anesthesia
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resident, Ochsner-LSU Shreveport Hospital, Shreveport, LA. LT Zachary Murphy, FS, USAF 187th Fighter Wing, AL-ANG, is PGY-1 internal
medicine resident, HCA/USF GME–Brandon Regional Hospital, Jacksonville, FL.
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