Sara Wilson

Education

United States Military Academy at West Point, BS 2000- 2004
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, MD 2012-2016
National Capital Consortium (NCC) Internship and Residency- Anesthesiology 2016-2020
NCC Chief Resident- Anesthesiology 2019-2020
NCC Fellow- Pain Medicine 2020-2021

Biography

Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Sara M. Wilson
Pain Management Consultant to the Army Surgeon General
Program Director, NCC Pain Medicine Fellowship

LTC Wilson received her bachelor's degree from the U.S. Military Academy in 2004. After commissioning in the United States Army, she served as a Medical Service Corps Officer from 2004-2012. During those years, she served in a variety of leadership positions including: the 2nd Infantry Division Surgeon’s Office Medical Regulating Officer, Camp Casey, South Korea (2004-2005); Chief of Patient Administration, General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital (2007-2008); Chief of Patient Administration, 115th Combat Support Hospital-South, Camp Bucca, Iraq (2008-2009); Instructor, Army Medical Department Center and School, San Antonio, TX (2009-2010); and the Chief of Patient Administration, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (2011-2012). During her time as a Medical Service Corps Officer, she was also selected to compete on the Women’s National Team Handball Team where she was assigned to the World Class Athlete Program in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2005-2007).

In 2012, LTC Wilson entered medical school at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. At USU, she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She was selected for Anesthesiology Internship and Residency training which she completed at the NCC/WRNMMC training program. In her final year of residency, she was competitively selected to be Chief Resident. She subsequently completed a fellowship in Pain Medicine at NCC/WRNMMC. She earned double board certification in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine in 2021.

In her years following residency, she stayed on as staff at WRNMMC where she served as the Associate Program Director for the NCC Anesthesiology residency from 2021-2025. In that role, she served as the chair of the Clinic Competency Committee, a member of the Program Evaluation Committee, and was the course director for the residency academic program. During that time, she also served as the officer in charge of the Contingency of Operations Plans (COOP) Anesthesiology section where she planned anesthesiology simulation exercises and maintained readiness for contingency operations. In 2023, she was selected as the Pain Management Consultant to the Army Surgeon General where she currently serves as an advocate for the Pain Medicine community and consults on matters related to Army Pain Management including Supplemental Health Care Benefits, Medical Benefit Determinations, and Interdisciplinary Pain Management Center (IPMC) support. She also serves as a liaison to the Defense Health Agency. In 2025, she was competitively selected to serve as the Program Director for the Pain Medicine Fellowship where she currently continues to serve. In 2026, she served at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany from Jul-Oct in support of Operation Spartan Shield in support of operation Epic Fury.

LTC Wilson is a graduate of the Army Officer Basic Course (OBC), Patient Administration Course (Honor Graduate), Captain's Career Course (CCC), Command and General Staff Officer Course (CGSOC)/Intermediate Level Education (ILE)(Superior Graduate).
Her awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with a silver oak leaf cluster, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, Associate Master Clinician, Army Instructor badge, Air Assault Badge. She is also a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit.

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployments, Awards and Additional Publications

Program Director, Pain Medicine Fellowship, NCC

Pain Medicine Consultant to the Army Office of the Surgeon General

Associate Program Director, Anesthesiology Residency, NCC

McLean BC, Phillips CR, Wilson SM, Merrell JD, Gelfand HJ, Reece DE, Riegleman DL, Rodriguez SE, Cohen SP. U.S. Department of Defense Consensus Guidelines on Neuromodulation for Chronic Pain in an Active-Duty Military Population from a Tri-service, Multispecialty Working Group. U.S. Department of Defense; final DoD approval March 2026.

Wilson S, Byrne T. Chronic Pain in Vulnerable Populations: The U.S. Military. In P. Christo, K. Williams, J Katzman, R. Gallagher (Ed.) Pain Management in Vulnerable Populations. 2024 Oxford University Press.

Hurley RW, Adams MCB, Barad M, et al. Consensus practice guidelines on interventions for cervical spine (facet) joint pain from a multispecialty international working group. Pain Med. Nov 26 2021;22(11):2443-2524. doi:10.1093/pm/pnab281.

Wilson SM, Lojek ASB, Zamora-Berridi GJ, Hodgson JA. Not Your Average Mediastinal Mass: A Case of a Large Mediastinal Teratoma in a Patient With a History of Polio Disease. Mil Med. Aug 31 2021;doi:10.1093/milmed/usab343.

Principal Investigator, Subaward Site: A Sequenced Strategy for Improving Outcomes in People with Knee Osteoarthritis Pain (SKOAP). Johns Hopkins University Protocol IRB00238678.

Rosenberg JM, Bilka BM, Wilson SM, Spevak C. Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: Overview of the 2017 US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline. Pain Med. May 1 2018;19(5):928-941. doi:10.1093/pm/pnx203.

Bronze Star Medal, Iraq 2009

Representative Bibliography

McLean BC, Phillips CR, Wilson SM, Merrell JD, Gelfand HJ, Reece DE, Riegleman DL, Rodriguez SE, Cohen SP. U.S. Department of Defense Consensus Guidelines on Neuromodulation for Chronic Pain in an Active-Duty Military Population from a Tri-service, Multispecialty Working Group. U.S. Department of Defense; final DoD approval March 2026.

Lee V, Wilson S, Johansson M. A Case Report of Multimodal Analgesia for the Treatment of Refractory Chronic Nipple Pain. A&A Practice. Apr 2023; 14(4):p e01668. doi: 10.1213/XAA.0000000000001668.

Lee V, Wilson S, Johansson M. A Case Report of Multimodal Analgesia for the Treatment of Refractory Chronic Nipple Pain. A&A Practice. Apr 2023; 14(4):p e01668. doi: 10.1213/XAA.0000000000001668.

Hurley RW, Adams MCB, Barad M, Bhaskar A, Bhatia A, Chadwick A, Deer TR, Hah J, Hooten WM, Kissoon NR, Lee DW, Mccormick Z, Moon JY, Narouze S, Provenzano DA, Schneider BJ, van Eerd M, Van Zundert J, Wallace MS, Wilson SM, Zhao Z, Cohen SP. Consensus practice guidelines on interventions for cervical spine (facet) joint pain from a multispecialty international working group. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2022 Jan;47(1):3-59. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2021-103031. Epub 2021 Nov 11. PMID: 34764220; PMCID: PMC8639967.

Wilson S, Byrne T. Chronic Pain in Vulnerable Populations: The U.S. Military. In P. Christo, K. Williams, J Katzman, R. Gallagher (Ed.) Pain Management in Vulnerable Populations. 2024 Oxford University Press.

Wilson SM, Lojek ASB, Zamora-Berridi GJ, Hodgson JA. Not Your Average Mediastinal Mass: A Case of a Large Mediastinal Teratoma in a Patient With a History of Polio Disease. Mil Med. Aug 31 2021; doi:10.1093/milmed/usab343.

Rosenberg JM, Bilka BM, Wilson SM, Spevak C. Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: Overview of the 2017 US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline. Pain Med. May 1 2018; 19(5):928-941. doi:10.1093/pm/pnx203.

Joseph K, Bader K, Wilson S, Walker M, Stephens M, Varpio L. Unmasking identity dissonance: exploring medical students' professional identity formation through mask making. Perspect Med Educ. Apr 2017; 6(2):99-107. doi:10.1007/s40037-017-0339-z

Wilson S, Pollinger T, Turiansky G. An atypical presentation of unilateral, linear, hypertrophic lichen planus in a patient with HIV. Practical Dermatology. 2016; Oct:24-26.