USU Medical Students Join 2018 Pacific Partnership Mission

By Sharon Holland

Twelve students from the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences are participating in the 13th iteration of the annual U.S.-led Pacific Partnership, the largest multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. The mission will take them through Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Japan.
 
The USU representatives, all third-year medical students from the class of 2019, will join the rest of the medical support team on board the hospital ship, USNS Mercy, in a collaborative effort between the U.S. military, host nations, non-governmental organizations, and allied partner nations. The students will observe and participate in the multi-faceted efforts aimed at shaping global health engagement. The Mercy embarked on the 5-month voyage on February 23 from its homeport in San Diego.

Capt. David Bretz, Mission Commander of Pacific Partnership 2018 (PP18), delivers opening
remarks during a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) seminar in Bengkulu,
Indonesia. PP18’s mission is to work collectively with host and partner nations to enhance
regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increased stability and security in
the region, and foster new and enduring friendships across the Indo-Pacific Region. Pacific
Partnership, now in its 13th iteration, is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance
and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Fulton/Released)

In addition to U.S. service members, Pacific Partnership includes more than 800 military and civilian personnel from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Peru, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom, who will provide medical care, along with dental, veterinary and public health services, to the host nations.  In addition, teams will take part in civic action projects, community health exchanges, medical symposiums and disaster response training activities.  The collective efforts with host and partner nations aim to enhance disaster response capabilities and interoperability between all participants.

The opportunity has been more than a year in the making, according to Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Alexander Galifianakis, commandant of students at the Hebert School of Medicine, after USU’s  medical school dean, Dr. Art Kellermann, asked about the possibility of creating a student elective rotation in conjunction with the Mercy’s next mission.

“We all felt that this would be a unique experience and provide the students rare insight into what military medicine is capable of,” said Galifianakis.

Air Force 2nd Lts. Alison Snyder, Norah Shemery and Tarah Woodle (on the television screen), along with Navy Ens. Vikram Mukherjee (far right), all students in USU’s medical school class of 2019, explain their telementorship project created in conjunction with USU alumnus, Navy Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Art Ambrosio, to staff on board the USNS Mercy during Pacific Partnership 2018.  (Courtesy photo)

Previous attempts to place students on the Mercy, dating back to the 1990s, were met with a number of obstacles. This time, with help from USU faculty members who had participated in previous Pacific Partnership missions and significant assistance from USU’s Western Region leadership, the University was able to secure several spots on the mission.  For seven months, Galifianakis participated in weekly teleconferences with the mission’s medical working group and attended a planning conference in Singapore to ensure that everything went smoothly for the USU students.

In December, after significant interest from the student body, the School of Medicine leadership selected 12 students from a group of very well qualified applicants for the mission.  The opportunity is considered to be an elective, one of many operational medicine rotations in which students engage during their final years of study at USU.  Each of the students was assigned a faculty preceptor based on their intended medical specialty of choice.  Several of the students are incorporating this experience into their elective senior capstone projects.

“My hope is that they will all gain firsthand experience in operational medicine and understand the multifaceted challenges of orchestrating a humanitarian effort of this scale,” said Galifianakis.

The first four students, Navy Ensign Vikram Mukherjee, and Air Force 2nd Lts. Norah Shemery, Alison Snyder and Tarah Woodle, arrived in Bengkulu, Indonesia, on March 29, where they fully immersed themselves in activities along with the Mercy crew.

Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) anchors near Bengkulu, Indonesia March 29. Mercy is currently deployed in support of pacific Partnership 2018 (PP18). PP18’s mission is to work collectively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increased stability and security in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships across the Indo-Pacific Region. Pacific Partnership, now in its 13th iteration, is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Fulton/Released)

That group headed home when the ship reached its first destination and was replaced by the next four students, Navy Ensigns Samuel Woodle and Jacqueline Rine, Air Force 2nd Lt. Cameron Elward, and Army 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Polston, who linked up with the mission in Port Kelang, Malaysia.

The final set of USU students, Air Force 2nd Lt. Matthew Bondaryk, Navy Ens. Nicholas Michael, and Army 2nd Lts. Lauren Kecskes and Alison Lam, will meet the ship in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka for their 30-day mission, which will end Okinawa, Japan.

“Simply experiencing an operation like this is what will prove most valuable for the students,” said Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Ronald Willy, the Naval Medical Center San Diego graduate medical education designated institutional official (afloat) for Pacific Partnership-18.

"Since arriving on the Mercy we have been integrated into the international medical and military community aboard the ship which ranges from surgeons from Peru, dentists from Australia, nurses from England, Indonesian translators as well as Navy crew members from all walks of life. We all took part in a cultural exchange at a coffee plantation as well as medical exchanges in both hospitals and local clinics,” said 2nd Lt. Tarah Woodle. “During our down time on the Mercy, the surgeons took it upon themselves to teach us more about their specialties and trained us on instrumentation we could only dream about using as medical students, such as the DaVinci robot and the ophthalmologic microscope. Additionally, they have become mentors for several projects we are working on concurrently. This experience will surely be unforgettable.”