As I write this editorial, I am fully engaged in the Uniformed Services University’s Operation Bushmaster1 as a platoon team leader instructor. I have mentioned this activity numerous times on this editorial forum. The Bushmaster experience is perhaps the best example of why USU is clearly a unique medical university producing medical leaders for our military and our country. For the USU School of Medicine, Bushmaster is the culminating final exam where students exercise four years of military-specific training in leadership and battlefield trauma management provided through the USU Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, where I currently serve as a professor of anesthesiology.
I told you so
“The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so.”—Gore Vidal (1925-2012)
I wrote an editorial in U.S. Medicine on June 10, 2018, entitled “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”
In an Age of Incompetence
“I am, as I’ve said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.” ~Billy Joel
Like many others who pursue a career in medicine, I invested my early years as a 20-something in a seemingly endless effort to obtain the necessary education and training requirements to place an MD at the end of my name. Yes, I would find part-time work in the summer for extra beer money but did not need to work while in school. I was fortunate to have parents willing to financially support my educational efforts and “Uncle Sugar” (the U.S. Government) was willing to pay for my collegiate and medical school expenses in exchange for Army services in defense of the Constitution.
Do as much nothing as possible
“13. The delivery of good medical care is to do as much nothing as possible.” “Laws of the House of God,” ~Samuel Shem
I have been a part of U.S. Medicine and this column for several years now. I am occasionally asked where my ideas come from for the editorials I produce. Many ideas, of course, are pulled right out of the headlines or the nightly news. Others are derived from my experiences, both medical and otherwise, that have a link (no matter how tenuous) to our collective experience as federal medicine providers.
“When discussing collaboration, people often talk about ‘breaking down silos.’ … ” —William D. Ramsey, MD
“When discussing collaboration, people often talk about ‘breaking down silos.’ I object to that terminology because ‘breaking down’ is a negative image that implies destruction or tearing down of silos. Academically, silos represent our areas of expertise. Why would...
“God help us, if, the first time something fails—and something will fail—we crush whoever it was … whoever’s responsible,” —Gen. John “Mike” Murray
Gen. Mike Murray made this comment as he became the first commander of the Army Futures Command. The command’s website describes the mission of the organization with the following statement: “Army Futures Command leads a continuous transformation of Army modernization...
Healthcare is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time. —C. Everett Koop (1916-2013)
It has been with no small amount of dismay that I have watched national maps of the measles outbreak grow progressively redder on the national news as the epidemic continues to spread across the nation. Measles is a highly virulent, single-stranded, RNA virus that is...
“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” —Walt Disney (1901-1966)
A friend recently texted me a Military.com article by columnist Tom Philpott entitled, “More than 17,000 Uniformed Medical Jobs Eyed for Elimination.” I read the item with no small amount of trepidation and concern, since I have some experience with military medicine....
“Medice, cura te ipsum” – Luke 4:23
Physician, heal thyself is the English translation of the ancient Latin proverb quoted in the title. Various forms of this quote are found in a variety of classical texts, and it is generally accepted that the saying refers to the hypocrisy of offering advice to fix...
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” –Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Julius Caesar commented, “No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.” My wife, Pam, and I recently traveled to Florida to visit my mother and father, who are in their seventh and eighth decades of life, respectively. My parents live in a...
“The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.” –Maimonides (1135-1204)
Much to my family’s chagrin, the influence of British humor on my personality and sense of humor began as a preteen. I would stay up late at night for episodes of “Benny Hill” and my favorite, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” As a much older Army officer, I had...
Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past. Tryon Edwards (1809-1894)
The Department of Defense recently underwent an internal review of opioid use within three major military treatment facilities through the Inspector General office. The report remains preliminary and has not yet been released to the public, although, unsurprisingly,...
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” — Henry Ford (1863-1947)
October is Operation Bushmaster season for Uniformed Services University (USU) medical and nursing students.
“The doctor of the future will give no medication but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”—Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931)”
The doctor of the future will give no medication but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”—Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931)
“Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” —Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
My wife's family has maintained a cabin in Maine for over 100 years, idyllically set in a mature pine grove on a pristine lake shore. With the exception of a few necessary modifications to the structure brought about by the occasional pine limb falling into the camp...
“Science is basically an inoculation against charlatans.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
In past columns, I have mentioned my penchant for science fiction.
“Meditation helps me to calm down.” —Lady Gaga
Recently I encountered two of my young adult daughters sitting on the same couch, both staring into their iPhones laughing.
If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed
“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”—Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) My eldest daughter, 1st Lt. Susan Buckenmaier (fifth generation military in my family), recently completed a Master of Public Health (MPH) at...
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.
The modern corollary to the wisdom of Confucius would be Albert Einstein’s quote, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” For me, one of the greatest attractions during my 30-plus years in the medical profession is the humbling impact this career has on personal perceptions of what I perceive to “know.”
When guns came into existence, so too did the natural right to a fair and reasonable defense against them
“When guns came into existence, so too did the natural right to a fair and reasonable defense against them.” —R. A. Delmonico I am a gun owner. I own quite a few pistols for defense and a number of rifles, slug guns and black powder rifles for...
It’s Up to All of Us
Editor-In-Chief, Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, MD, COL (ret.), MC, USA “It’s up to all of us, the consumers, to take charge of our health. It's almost like voting. It's your responsibility.” — Anne Wojcicki Anne Wojcicki is the...
We are not makers of history. We are made by history
Editor-In-Chief, Chester “Trip” Buckenmaier III, MD, COL (ret.), MC, USA — The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) I find this quote by Dr. King particularly poignant as I reflect back on my own career as a federal medicine provider. While I...
Apology is Only Egotism Wrong Side Out
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) Despite our best efforts, bad things often happen to good people in medicine. Healthcare professionals are human and prone to error, as much as they would like to deny that hard fact. The distinction between healthcare providers...
