US Army Medicine partners for graduate school symposium

Maj. Gen. Patrick D. Sargent, Commander U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School, Health Readiness Center of Excellence (AMEDDC&S HRCoE),  addressed the audience at the 2019 Graduate School Research & Education Symposium (GSRES) held at Holly Auditorium, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio (UTHSCSA) on May 7 and 8.

The 2019 GRES theme was "Rapidly Translating Evidence intoMedical and Educational Readiness with a focus on Medical Operations in AustereEnvironments." The symposium was a great opportunity for HRCoE GraduateSchool faculty and students to collaborate with the UTHSCSA Physician Assistantprogram and other clinical programs. The event highlighted how the U.S. Army isworking to translate research to battlefield lethality and survival, and thepartnership between military and civilian graduate institutions for theadvancement of the sciences.

Sargent spoke to the researchers, clinicians and medicalfaculty about the continued need for groundbreaking research and study toenhance the Army’s medical contributions to the readiness, training, anddeployment of its military forces. Many of Army Medicine's recent initiativesdealing with the benefits of sleep, nutrition, activity, mental health andwell-being were the result of several years of medical research and study bymilitary medical professionals in HRCoE's graduate programs.

The general stressed the importance of continuedcollaboration, achieving a shared understanding of how the Army is reorganizingfor future conflicts in support of multi-domain operations and how that shouldshape future medical research and education.

The two-day forum brought graduate school faculty,researchers, clinicians and healthcare administrators from across theDepartment of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs and partners in thecivilian community for a series of presentations, training and researchshowcasing student and faculty research across the full spectrum oftranslational research.

2nd Lieutenant Cara Adams, who is a student in the BaylorGraduate Program through HRCoE, said the GSRES was a thought-provokingexperience. "We were able to listen and learn from our peers about all oftheir ongoing or completed research," Adams said. During the symposium shepresented her research on alcohol consumption effects and fat accumulation."It was eye opening to see the various avenues research can take and howit can impact and benefit both civilian and military health communities. Thesymposium was a great example of how networking and collaborating with peerscan be a huge asset to military healthcare," continued Adams.

This was the eighth annual GSRES, which has grown from alocal event hosted in Blesse Auditorium at HRCoE on Joint Base San Antonio-FortSam Houston, to a cooperative event with civilian institutions focused onadvancement of medical science and graduate education that benefitswarfighters, veterans, their families and civilians alike.

Source: US Army