Pacific Partnership is a collaboration between the U.S. Navy and other countries to provide humanitarian efforts in the Indo-Pacific region. According to Military Sealift Command, this is the partnership’s 17th year supporting disaster relief, infrastructure building, and medical support for countries in the region.

“For me, being able to serve in this type of assignment is why I joined the military,” said Contestable. “We [the military] are here to build bridges and cross pollinate as far as our interoperability across the globe.”

Contestable is a general dermatologist assigned at NMCCL and specializes in procedural dermatology. During his deployment, he served as the lead for the burn-scar revision team, caring for patients in the Phu Yen province on the south-central coast of Vietnam.

“Working in a rural area in Vietnam, we were able to care for patients who normally would not receive the level of care that we were offering based on limited resources and capabilities,” said Contestable. “Some of these patients had been living with severe burn injuries for years; being able to help them was very rewarding.”

Contestable’s team worked closely with Vietnamese medical colleagues to identify patients needing specialty care. Contestable saw a variety of cases from simple scars to severe trauma from burns.

“When you get to help kids who haven’t been able to open their hands or have severe reduction in movement of their limbs, you know you are making a difference," said Contestable.

Pacific Partnership 2022 was Contestable’s first humanitarian deployment. Contestable, is from Winter Park, Florida and has been stationed at NMCCL for two years.