Eight match for military medicine residency

Eight members of the Class of 2020 matched into military residency programs where they will complete their medical training while serving their country.

Campbell Medicine is proud to have a strong military medicine legacy. The Class of 2020 boasts eight soon to be Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine graduates who will continue their medical training through the United States Military’s Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) bringing the school’s participant total to thirty-seven.

“Our inaugural class had ten HPSP graduates and two Tillman Scholars,” said interim dean Jim Powers. “We continue to average ten HPSP scholars per class, and we are so thankful and honored for their service to our country and their commitment to caring for the women and men of our armed forces, their families, and our veterans across the globe.”

The eight members of the Class of 2020 will join Campbell Medicine alumni training and providing medical care from Tripler Army Medicine Center in Hawaii to flight surgeons stationed with aircraft carriers in Virginia Beach in specialties ranging from dermatology to psychiatry.

Zachary Brooks matched into psychiatry and will join nine other Campbell Medicine alumni at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in July.

“Having grown up in an environment where I saw the dramatic difference that quality mental health care can make, I not only know what patients and their families are going through, but I also believe in their ability to recover,” said Brooks. “My background, volunteer experiences, research, and prior employment have all guided my interest in Psychiatry – I want to both improve access to quality mental healthcare and decrease the stigma for those seeking help. There is no group of people more deserving of high-quality health care than the men and women in our military. Being able to provide excellent care for those who protect us is the noblest calling I can imagine.”

2LT Teea Bunker and Zach Brooks at Basic Officer Leader Course.

“I want to extend my congratulations to the members of the Class of 2020 who matched with the military,” said Jacob Gilbertson, president of Campbell’s Student Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (SAMOPS). “They have voluntarily taken the responsibility to support our sailors, soldiers, airmen and marines who sacrifice everything so that the citizens of this great nation can pursue their dreams. It is important that we have students who wish to be military physicians so that the forces defending our freedom have skillful and reliable care to continue to respond to their duties in a timely fashion. Given the conditions many of our fighting forces operate in, our military needs exceptional medical attention, and that is what my fellow Camels will surely provide."

“SAMOPS serves as a body to aid every HPSP member at CUSOM in the process of becoming a military physician,” continued Gilbertson. “We lean on each other and discuss topics that only another student in the military would understand. I am very proud of the 8 who have matched from Campbell this year, and I appreciate their commitment to excellence and the sacrifices they themselves will make in their careers. One team one fight.”

The military match participants will report to their respective military medical centers in July to continue their training upon graduating from Campbell University in May.

- SARAH BOWMAN

CLASS OF 2020 UNITED STATES HEALTH PROFESSIONS SCHOLARS

TEEA BUNKER, 2LT, U.S. ARMY Internal Medicine Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD

ZACHARY D. BROOKS, 2LT, U.S. ARMY Psychiatry Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD

R. DILLON HILL, 2D LT, U.S. AIR FORCE Family Medicine Travis Air Force Base, California/University of California

ROBERT NALLENWEG, 2D LT, U.S. AIR FORCE Family Medicine National Capital Consortium, Fort Belvoir, VA

KAISER LAHM, 2D LT, U.S. AIR FORCE Transitional Year Internal Medicine San Antonio, TX.

JOSHUA B. SEIDEL, 2LT, U.S. ARMY Emergency Medicine Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, TX

BENJAMIN TAN, 2LT, U.S. ARMY Pediatrics Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA

KIEFER MESPELT, ENSIGN, US NAVY Internal Medicine Navy Medical Center Portsmouth Portsmouth, VA