Military and Emergency Medicine
Education

OVERVIEW

Military Medicine is not a medical specialty in the traditional sense. It is a discipline, where “discipline” can be defined as a branch of medical knowledge and skills to which much time and effort is devoted. Military Medicine is also not a course in the traditional sense. It is an integrated curricular cable woven throughout the School of Medicine curriculum in order to prepare graduates to be skilled and effective medical officers in even the most challenging, stressful, and high-stakes environments faced by the Military Health System (MHS) and Public Health Service (PHS). In both traditional classroom and unique field experiences, USU students acquire the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes they need to medically support troops and other professionals deploying for a wide variety of combat and non-combat military and non-military operations and to be ready to respond to concentrated and dispersed contingencies and crises across the globe far into the future.

The Department of Military & Emergency Medicine is the responsible entity for most educational content in three of the subdisciplines of Military Medicine: Military Field Medicine (MFM); Military Medical Practice (MMP); and Military Medical Leadership (MML). Students receive grades in the foundational curriculum and the advanced curriculum. The department is also responsible for coordinating required and elective clinical rotations in the specialty of emergency medicine. These total to more than 700 hours of student contact. Students in the School of Medicine must pass all components of the Military Medicine and Emergency Medicine curricula to graduate.

 

Pre-Clerkship Curriculum

Clinical Clerkships

Post-Clerkship CUrriculum

Unique Curriculum

Military Field Medicine (MFM) is a discipline that comprises basic out-of-hospital lifesaving and other first-aid skills that every physician should know plus those that are more likely to be needed in support of military operations where healthcare providers may be working in extreme environments, are geographically isolated, have limited time and other resources, and access to higher levels of care may be adversely affected by distance, weather, or the tactical situation. This supports the Joint Health Services Capabilities of First-Responder Care, Forward Resuscitative Care, integration of Forward Resuscitative Surgery, Mass-Casualty Management, and some aspects of Joint En-Route Care.

About Field Experiences

Military Medical Practice (MMP) is a discipline that incorporates all militarily relevant influences on the delivery of healthcare. This spans multiple domains such as the mission type, population at risk, Force Health Protection, various physical environments, personnel and other resources on hand, resources available at other locations, etc. The planning and execution principles of conformity, proximity, flexibility, mobility, continuity, and control are emphasized throughout the curriculum. Mission understanding and analysis, deliberate and crisis planning, organizational communication, decision-making and execution, leadership and supervision, and continuous reevaluation are related both in everyday activities and simulated scenarios.

Military Medical Leadership (MML) is a discipline that involves acquisition of knowledge and practice of skills related to influencing behaviors, cognitions, and motivations of individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve goals in contexts related to the full spectrum of joint health services in times of peace and times of conflict. Although education in medical leadership has been considered important for all medical schools and residency programs, an October 2018 article in the Harvard Business Review noted that USU has the only medical school with a four-year integrated leadership curriculum. Aspirational and inspirational leaders—who continuously improve the Military Health System (MHS) and Public Health Service (PHS) and provide educational, scholarly, and dedicated service to the Nation—are the desired outcomes.

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