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Veterans Day

What I learned in the military: leadership

Andrew Bright, D.O., critical care and burn surgeon at USA Health, salutes the USA College of Medicine military medical students after administering the oath of office during honors convocation for the class of 2019.

Following Veterans Day, critical care and burn surgeon Andrew Bright, D.O., ponders what it means to work as a physician in the U.S. military.

Published Nov 12th, 2019

As the nation spent Monday honoring our veterans, we take time to recognize the veterans who work in and with USA Health to help us succeed at our mission of helping our patients lead longer, better lives.

One such veteran is Andrew Bright, D.O., assistant professor of surgery at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and a critical care and burn surgeon with USA Health.

Bright earned his medical degree from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, W.Va., under the Health Professions Scholarship Program with the U.S. Navy. After completing a surgery internship at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., he served for two years as a physician with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, deploying twice to the Middle East.

After completing surgery residency at USA Health University Hospital, he re-commissioned in the U.S. Navy to serve as a general surgeon from 2014 to 2017. He deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he served as a trauma surgeon and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal.

“Veterans Day calls to mind the aches and pains willingly sustained by many for the explicit purpose of protecting the people of our country,” Bright said. “I know several Marines personally who gave their lives valiantly for our country. Many families gave their precious ones. Those are my heroes.”

Bright says that physicians have the opportunity to serve our country very specifically in that, “by protecting our patient, we in turn protect our community and country.” Furthermore, many of the skills learned in military service expand those traditional skills needed to be a successful physician.

“It’s difficult to summarize it all, but I would say that the word ‘leadership’ best summarizes what I learned in the military,” Bright said. “Physicians make a lot of decisions that have downstream effects for patients, staff, and entire systems of care. The best leaders I knew were very thoughtful and made decisions that were executable, ethical and effective. This is harder than it sounds.”

In his faculty role at the USA College of Medicine, Bright has led the military oath of office that medical school graduates who are committed to military service take each year.

“Last year, almost 10 percent of the graduating medical school class went into active military service. It was amazing to have all of them on that stage,” he said.

The students at the USA College of Medicine started a Military Medicine Group. The group focuses on community service and individual preparation.

The Oath of Office: “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

In considering Veterans Day, Bright encourages all U.S. citizens to honor those who sacrificed “freely.”

“There is a lot of suffering in the world right now. Ultimately, it’s about relieving a bit more of the suffering that is so prevalent, and creating a better place for generations to come,” he said.

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