Eighty-seven medical interns graduated from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) June 24, making them eligible to independently provide health care at military medical facilities around the world.

This is the 92nd consecutive year of the Graduate Medical Education program at NMCP, which provides a joint-service intern program for Navy and Air Force doctors. This class had nine Air Force interns, six of whom are in pediatrics.

A medical intern is a physician who has completed medical school, but does not have a full license to practice medicine unsupervised. After completing their first year of postgraduate training, the interns will either be assigned to fleet units as flight surgeons or general medical officers, or they will continue with specialized training.

With the 13-month intern program behind them -- one month of orientation and 12 months of rotations in a specific or variety of specialties -- the interns have proven they are ready to move beyond medical student to independent physician.

"You have finished a tough year," said Vice Adm. Forrest Faison, Navy surgeon general and chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, during his remarks. "You've taken the book knowledge of medicine and turned it into clinical experience. You've learned that the art of medicine is equally important as the science of medicine and what it really means to have someone's life and trust in your hands, to know what it truly means to be a physician."

Faison asked the interns to stand and applaud the faculty and support staff who have assisted them throughout the year, as well as their families. Then he made three requests of the interns.

"Always be worthy of the trust of your patients and their families," Faison said. "Carry on the tradition of Navy Medicine with pride, and always be worthy of the privilege of leadership."

After speaking of the changes and challenges they will encounter as the delivery of medical care continues to evolve, Faison offered the interns some advice as their surgeon general.

"Never forget why you went into medicine -- to care for others; never forget what you represent and the trust and esteem placed in you; never forget that you are part of something that is greater than yourself, and finally, enjoy the ride," Faison said. "A life is well lived, and it is best lived when it is in service to others."

Faison was joined at center stage by Capt. Darin Via, NMCP commanding officer, to present certificates to the interns of the year within nine medical specialties, and award the Overall Intern of the Year Award to Lt. David Oliver. They also presented awards to the faculty and support staff on behalf of the class before presenting graduation certificates to the 87 graduates.

"We are all excited for the next step in our Navy careers," said Oliver, who was also selected as the Internal Medicine Intern of the Year and served as class vice president. Oliver will continue at NMCP with a residency in internal medicine.

"I will be making an impact on patients through my work with the next class of interns," he said. "I will be teaching interns appropriate physical exam skills, appropriate ways to present cases, and help solidify their knowledge and make them more competent physicians in the long run."

Oliver was inspired to join the Navy by his grandfather who was a paratrooper, and inspired to become a doctor through his own childhood experience.

"When I was a child, I had extremely bad asthma, and it is something that stuck with me -- how scared I was going to the doctor, but they were the people who got me through it," Oliver said. "In that aspect, I would like to end up doing pulmonary medicine for the Navy."

Oliver and class president, Lt. Christopher Hill, agree the culmination of the internship year is bittersweet.

"We've grown really close as a class, with shared trials and tribulations," said Hill, who was selected as Otolaryngologist Intern of the Year. "The end of internship provides us an opportunity to reflect on how far we've come in one year. It feels good to have accomplished these things together."

In addition to their duties as doctors, the class was involved in a number of volunteer activities including drives to collect school supplies for an elementary school, food at Thanksgiving and toys at Christmas. A number of interns also served on command committees, both related to graduate medical education and command-wide committees, and several received research awards from the command level to regional and state.

As Hill prepares to move to his next duty station with Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, he reflected on what brought him into Navy Medicine and how he will continue to be an advocate for his patients.

"I have always had a fascination with health and wellness," Hill said. "I have always had an interest in science, so medicine is a natural path for me. I have always had a call to serve my country in some capacity. I strive to be a compassionate provider who treats the whole patient and not just the disease or pathology, but mentally, physically, and give them someone they can confide in."

Of the 39 who are going into another training program, 32 will remain at NMCP for up to a three-year residency program to specialize in either general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology or emergency medicine. The rest of the class will now care for military patients at commands around the world.

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