Thomas A Pluim
MD
Captain, Navy
Department of Primary Appointment:
School of Medicine
Pediatrics
Title
Pediatric Critical Care
Location:
Navy Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA
Research Interests:
Pediatric Critical Care
Office Phone
Education
Pediatric Internship and Residency-Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (2003-2006)Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship-Monroe Carrel Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt (2007-2010)
Biography
THOMAS A PLUIM II, MDCAPTAIN, MEDICAL CORPS, UNITED STATES NAVY
NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER PORTSMOUTH
A native of Oregon, Captain Pluim graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1999. He holds doctorate of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) and is board certified in both General Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care.
Currently, he serves as the Chief Medical Officer and Director, Quality Management of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia.
He served as the first billeted Chief Medical Officer and Director, Quality Management, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth from 2018-2021, leading the Command through a highly successful Joint Commission Survey in August 2021.
He was stationed at US Naval Hospital Guam where he was Director of Medical Services from June 2016 to June 2018 and both Department Head for Pediatrics and lead Physician Advisor for Process Improvement from July 2015 to June 2016.
From 2012 to March 2015, he served as Medical Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Navy Medical Center Portsmouth. During that time, he also held several command leadership positions including: Assistant Director of Medical Services, Chair of Physician Advisor for Process Improvement, Vice Chair Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and Senior Medical Officer, Department of Pediatrics.
From June through December of 2011, CAPT Pluim served as the Intensive Care Unit Department Head for the NATO Multinational Medical Unit, Role 3 Trauma Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan. While assigned to NAVCENT in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, CAPT Pluim provided direct patient care and oversaw critical care activities for the most severely injured patients in the theater’s largest military surgical facility.
From 2007 to 2010, CAPT Pluim completed Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship in the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, achieving board certification in Pediatric Critical Care in November of 2010. Upon graduation, CAPT Pluim returned to Portsmouth Medical Center, where he was assigned as staff pediatric critical care physician.
In 2006, CAPT Pluim completed his Pediatric Residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), Portsmouth, Virginia in 2006. He stayed at NMCP the following year and served as the Pediatric Residency Program’s first Chief of the Residents, and became Board certified in General Pediatrics in October 2006.
CAPT Pluim is an Clinical Associate Professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and his prior awards and military decorations include: 2003 Pediatrics Medical Clerkship Student of the Year, USUHS; 2004 Pediatrics Intern of the Year, NMCP; 2006 Medical Officer in Training of the Quarter, Third Quarter, NMCP; 2014 Senior Medical Officer of the Year, NMCP; Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal 2004; the Navy Commendation Medal in 2007, 2011, and 2015; and the Meritorious Service Medal in 2018 and 2021.
Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications
Medical Director, Peds ICU, NMCP 2012-2015
Director, Medical Services, US Naval Hospital Guam, 2016-2018
Chief Medical Officer, NMCP, 2018-2021
Deployed, NATO Role 3 MMU, Kandahar, Afghanistan, June-Dec 2011