Michael Wagner MD

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science-Catholic University of America 1982
Masters of Science in Physiology-Georgetown University 1986
Medical Degree-Georgetown University 1990
Internal Medicine Internship-Bethesda Naval Hospital 1990/91
Undersea Medical School-Groton CT 1992
Neurology Residency program-Bethesda Naval Hospital 1994/97

Biography

I was born and raised in northern New Jersey. I attending college in Washington, DC at Catholic University and studied political science. I decided to pursue a career in medicine after graduating from college and thus spent several years taking the prerequisite courses. During my medical school time I met my future wife who was a special education teacher and we married between 3rd and 4th year of medical school. I complete my internship in Internal Medicine at Bethesda Naval Hospital in 1990/91 and we had our first child during that time. Upon completion of internship I spent 6 months in Groton CT working in the primary care clinic awaiting my start time for the undersea medical program. After completing the UMO program I was assigned to Naval Special Warfare in Virginia where I spent 2 years working with the most dedicated warfighters in the Navy. I then return to Bethesda Naval Hospital and completed my Neurology residency in 1997. I was selected to be the first chief resident of the newly combined Army-Navy residency program. Upon completion of residency I was assigned to Portsmouth Naval Hospital where I ultimately spent the remainder of my 30 year Naval career. During this time I served on the Ethics Committee for 10 years. I eventually became the department head of Neurology and for 3 years I was the Specialty Leader to the Navy Surgeon General for the Neurology community.

I volunteered to be the first Navy neurologist deployed to Afghanistan to set up the TBI program in Kandahar in 2010. I was in theater for 6 months and it was incredible rewarding to care for our injured NATO warfighters and our Afghan counterparts. My participation in the ongoing war on terrorism also included multiple visits to GTMO to render care to detainees.

I have been married for 35 years and have 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren. I am an avid sportsman and played college tennis and continue to play tennis multiple times a week. I have been riding my bicycle to work for almost 14 years and have persuaded numerous colleagues to follow suit.

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

Undersea Medical Officer-Naval Special Warfare 1992-1994

Adult Neurologist Naval Medical Center Portsmouth-2997-2020

Department Head Neurology Naval Medical Center Portsmouth-2003-2008

Teacher of the Year in the Internal Medicine Department-2010 and 2013

Specialty Leader to the Navy Surgeon General 2015-2018

Afghanistan deployment 2010