Naval Hospital Jacksonville Graduates Family Medicine Physicians

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Hospital (NH) Jacksonville's award-winning Family Medicine Residency Program graduated 12 interns and nine residents during a ceremony at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville's Officers Club June 28.

The ceremony recognized the completion of 12-month internships and 36-month residencies for 21 naval doctors. The graduates were awarded a certificate from the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery acknowledging their graduation from NH Jacksonville's Family Medicine Residency Program.

"Because family medicine physicians provide the full spectrum of care needed by military families, it's critical they receive the best training," said Capt. Gayle Shaffer, NH Jacksonville commanding officer. "Our staff, interns and residents strive for academic excellence and our Family Medicine Residency Program continues to lead the way, setting the bar for others to aim for, while maintaining an outstanding reputation for producing some of the best primary-care doctors our nation has to offer."

Shaffer also praised Cmdr. James Keck, Family Medicine Residency Program director, for his leadership and training of the interns and residents. "Dr. Keck, I want to thank you for your amazing commitment, vision and passion and true desire to produce the best family medicine physicians possible."

To become a board certified physician by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), residents are required to successfully complete an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Family Medicine Program. NH Jacksonville's Family Medicine Residency Program not only meets this qualification, it was awarded the 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award for its clinical teaching efforts and named 2011 Family Medicine Clinical Site of the Year by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU).

During their first year of studies, interns and residents completed rotations in emergency medicine, inpatient medicine, outpatient family medicine, ophthalmology, inpatient general surgery, obstetrics, outpatient gynecology, orthopedics, urology, dermatology and pediatrics.

Upon completion of the first year, interns are selected to go into the fleet where they can serve in a variety of positions, such as general medical officers, flight surgeons or undersea medical officers. Residents continue their studies for two additional years, rotating through sports medicine, neurology, behavior health and hospice, trauma and intensive care units.

"My first struggle as an intern was trying to learn the way the hospital works," said Lt. Daniel Brennan, one of today's graduating interns who was selected to return for an additional two years to complete his residency. "My experience has been very positive, thanks to the wealth of knowledge within the program and the willingness of others to assist when needed."

"I am extremely proud of our graduating class of 2013," said Keck. "They have honed their individual skills and are now ready to take on the numerous challenges presented to Navy Medicine. For 42 years our award-winning program has been the standard for excellence, and I look forward to our upcoming class continuing this tradition."

As the graduates move on to their new assignments in the fleet as Navy medical officers, NH Jacksonville's Family Medicine Residency Program prepares to begin a new academic year-July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 -welcoming 26-residents and 13-interns into its program.

"I am looking forward to a more prominent leadership role during my next two years as a resident. I will assume much more responsibility, but that is expected," said Brennan when asked what he expects over the next two years.

NH Jacksonville's priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation's heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy's fourth largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population-about 163,000 active and retired military and their families-more than 57,000 are enrolled with primary care managers at one of its facilities. On average each day, a dedicated team of 2,500 military and civilian personnel sees 1,800 outpatients, admits 15 inpatients, cares for 80 people in the ER, performs 14 same-day surgeries, fills 4,700 prescriptions, conducts 4,600 lab tests and delivers three babies. Additionally, up to eight percent of its active duty staff is deployed around the globe providing combat, humanitarian and disaster care.

For more information, visit www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax andwww.navy.mil/local/nhjax/.