Rear Adm. Raquel Bono, the chief of the Navy Medical Corps, visited Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Aug. 11 to speak with Medical Corps officers assigned to commands within Hampton Roads and to meet with those in leadership positions at NMCP.

The visit was an opportunity for Bono to offer awareness on changes and challenges within Navy Medicine. During an early morning all-hands call attended by hundreds of doctors, she spoke about the alignment of military medicine, and the importance of jointness and leadership.

Bono explained the significance of the creation of the Defense Health Agency and the realignment of Navy Medicine with it.

"Many of the policies coming through Navy Medicine are coming from the DHA, which is a clear signal that we are aligning our efforts across military medicine," Bono said. "This is extremely important at the MTF level. (With the current fiscal environment), we must continually find ways to deliver care in a more efficient way. It's what you do as a region to elevate the performance of all of the MTFs in the area."

The future of Navy Medicine includes more than just the Navy, said Bono, who is also one of the jointness champions for Navy Medicine. The future is a joint environment that features the Navy working with the medical community of the Army and Air Force. Locally, that means NMCP and the hospitals at Joint Base Langley-Eustis have formed an enhanced multiservice market, or eMSM.

"You will be seeing more and more of our programs and hospitals populated with other services," Bono said. "We are moving toward jointness. We have to move toward jointness. The surgeon general is looking for Navy Medicine to lead jointness. It is necessary that we acquire the skill sets needed to succeed in a joint environment. It's no longer whether NMCP gets most of the patients or if the Air Force hospital does, or if Langley does a better job than NMCP."

The other pieces of Navy Medicine's strategic plan - readiness and value - are equally important, Bono said.

"A lot of our readiness depends on our ability to generate value within the MTF," Bono said. "When we see patients at the MTF, we are saving money on care in the civilian network and we are maintaining a high level of competency. By maintaining those skills, we can be forward deployed at a moment's notice for any type of operational medicine."

Bono also touched on how they can advance their careers, given that the community is working to adjust manning levels and promotions are extremely competitive.

"The Medical Corps is extremely well trained and competitive, which is good for Navy Medicine," Bono said. "We get to pick the top performers. So what are we looking for? We are looking for people who can contribute to readiness, jointness and value. You need to show that what you are doing at the deckplate level is impacting the strategic level. Now, more than ever, we need clinical medical leadership. We need this to come from our physicians, partly because you set the tone for everyone else."

Bono said she and her staff are assessing the way Medical Corps officers are being trained to become leaders, and that preparing for leadership in executive medicine should begin at the lieutenant commander level.

"In addition to being an effective clinician, you need to understand what goes into leadership, such as managing civilian personnel, the roles of contracting or the basic dynamics of (budgets)," she said. "Regardless of your desire for leadership positions, make sure you are contributing to a joint environment. Make a difference. We need clinical leadership. We need you to be able to step forward and do something to help us get to where we need to go. You are the most influential person that we have. Don't overlook the power that you have to be able to create change."

Whether they stay in Navy Medicine for 10 years or 30 years, Bono said she expects the same level of commitment.

"What I'm asking you to do is be a leader and be effective in what you're doing," she added. "Understand the impact that you are having on other people and make it count."

For more news from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, visit www.navy.mil/local/NMCP/.