USU Professor Applies Military Medical Expertise in Global Volunteer Role at the Vatican

Retired Navy Captain and USU pathologist Dr. Barbara Ritschel credits the adaptability of her military training for her success in providing frontline medical care to international visitors during a humanitarian mission with the Order of Malta.

Dr. Ritschel, center, with her team outside the first aid station in St. Peter’s square. To the left is the car

used to transport patients quickly to the first aid station. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Barbara Ritschel)

January 5, 2025 by USU External Affairs

In November, Dr. Barbara Ritschel, professor of Pathology at the Uniformed Services University (USU), spent a week in Vatican City serving as the physician lead for a medical volunteer team supporting first-aid stations at several major basilicas, including St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Wall.

Working six-hour daily shifts, Ritschel and her team served as first responders for visitors requiring medical attention or basic first aid. The team included a nurse and non-medical support personnel.   The teams were from multiple countries that week including Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands, providing coverage in shifts of 6 hours throughout the basilicas operating hours during a period of exceptionally high visitor volume.

Ritschel, a retired U.S. Navy captain, participated in the effort through the Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious Order which has an international humanitarian mission that operates hospitals, clinics, and emergency medical services worldwide and supports medical care for visitors in Vatican City. She has volunteered in this capacity on a previous occasion in 2016.

“Military medicine trains you to be adaptable—to deliver care wherever you are, with whatever resources are available,” Ritschel said. “That mindset translates seamlessly to environments like this, where you encounter patients from all over the world, often with language barriers and very different expectations of care.”

Although currently a pathologist, Ritschel emphasized that her ability to serve in a frontline clinical role is rooted in her Navy medical training. Like all Navy physicians, she completed a general medical training year before specializing—an experience she says that continues to shape her professional identity.

“That early generalist training gives you confidence and breadth,” she said. “It allows you to step into unfamiliar clinical situations and still provide safe, effective care, even after leaving active duty.”

During her time in the Vatican, Ritschel encountered patients representing a wide range of countries and cultures—an experience she noted closely mirrors her military service and humanitarian missions.

“I cared for patients from multiple continents at the same time,” she said. “Those moments rely as much on observation, patience, and careful communication as they do on clinical skills—qualities military medicine instills early and reinforces often.”

Ritschel described the experience as an extension of a career-long commitment to service, made possible by the foundation she built in uniform and continues through her role at USU.

“These opportunities reflect the enduring value of military medical training,” she said. “Even after retirement, it equips physicians to continue serving, representing American military medicine, and contributing meaningfully in global settings.”