BA, University Texas Dallas, TX, 1978
JD, St. Mary's Law School, San Antonio, TX, 1981
MHA, Baylor Univ., Waco, TX, 1992
Ph.D., Fordham Univ., Bronx, NY, 1995
Program Director, U.S. Army-Baylor Univ., Academy of Health Sciences, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, 2003-05
Faculty, U.S. Army-Baylor Univ., Academy of Health Sciences, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, 1999-05
Deputy Dir., Center for Healthcare Education and Studies, Academy of Health Sciences, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, 1999-2001
Hlth. Care Admin., MEDCOM, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, 1998-99
Hlth. Care Pol. Anal., MEDCOM, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, 1997-98
Chief, Provider Actions Br., MEDCOM, Ft. Sam Houston, TX, 1996-97
Chief, Med. Read. Div., Madigan AMC, Tacoma, WA, 1996
Dep. Dir., Plans & Prog. Div., Madigan AMC, Tacoma, WA, 1994-96
Chief, Res. Mgmt. Div., MDHSP Aug., Wurzburg, Germany, 1994
Chief, Clin. Spt. Div., CSH, Wurzburg, Germany, 1992-94
Resident, Frankfurt AMC, Frankfurt, Germany, 1991-92
Shortly after coming on active duty, I was reassigned as a Company Commander in the 187th Medical Battalion. In the many assignments since, I have never achieved a greater level of responsibility. Having a company of 550 AIT students and a cadre of seven senior NCOs was a wonderful experience. Due to the size of the company and the age of the soldiers, I had ample opportunity to guide and counsel many individuals who were embarking on a new life endeavor, one that could serve them well throughout their lives, or one that could end up leaving a very negative mark on them. Because it was an academic environment, I could relate to the students difficulties and to their academic failures as well. I count those as the most productive years of my career. I have never had another position that challenged me as much or gave me the opportunity to influence so many individuals during a critical point in their lives.
Near the end of my company command, I had to decide whether or not to take a subsequent assignment as a 70A. LTC Brian Foley at PERSCOM offered me a 70A position at the MEDCOM but he also presented the Baylor course as an option. Although I already had a law degree and LTC Foley said that would be sufficient to qualify me as a 70A, I chose to attend the Baylor Program since I hoped to someday teach there. I have never regretted that decision. As a new captain I was among the most junior members of my class. Having never been assigned to an MTF, I felt a bit intimidated by it all. However, one of my fellow company commanders, Tim Rhodes, pulled me aside in the first week of Baylor and asked me to join a study group with himself, Pat Riley, Dave Kelty, and our class leader, Mary Savitsky. That study group was my saving grace and I will always appreciate Tim for asking me to join it. Mostly, we helped each other keep our sanity and we did a good job with that. I absolutely loved the subject matter taught in the Baylor Program. Compared to law school, it was like being in heaven. My fellow classmates were a big part of that - you form a bond during such an intense year and the solidarity I felt with my classmates has been a very important part of my career. I am proud to be an MSC, but there can be little sense of community with some 3,500 people most of whom I have never met. There is a shared experience that Baylor graduates all have, regardless of corps, level of experience, age, and even branch of service. Whether it is with Dick Harder, Class of 67, whom I see often, or the students I teach today, Class of 2004, there is a sense of belonging that goes beyond any other type of community I’ve experienced in my professional life.
During my Baylor year, one of my professors, LTC Bill Brown, encouraged me to resume my doctoral work in Political Science, but with a new focus in Health Policy. That seemed to be a much more efficient option than starting over in a HCA doctoral program. So, while in Baylor, I wrote my doctoral proposal. I have to credit being back in an academic environment with giving me the impetus to finish it while so many miles from New York City. And my Health Policy professor while in Baylor, Commander Bill Lambert, clearly loved the subject and inspired in me a love of it as well. Memorable people and events during Baylor include Mary Savitsky for her always kind and steady leadership throughout the year, Gary Crystal for his very strange but lovable sense of humor, and the skit that my OB/OT group taped and showed as our presentation to the class. In that tape, one of my classmates, I think it was Jerry Penner, got to say to Jane Allgood, “Jane, you ignorant slut” and have it considered part of a successful class assignment. It got a lot of laughs, especially from Jane.
After finishing the didactic year at Baylor, I went to Frankfurt as a resident. My preceptor was COL Bob Hawkins. He was a wonderful preceptor, a kind and soft-spoken gentleman, and a true partner with COL Kirchdoerffer, the Commander, in running the hospital. Watching the two of them provided me with an excellent example of a great working relationship between a Commander and a DCA in a very well run hospital. At the end of my residency year, I took a position in Wurzburg as Chief, Clinical Support Division. I cannot say that my didactic year prepared me for the difficult personal dynamics that I had to deal with in my first year there while working for the DCCS. The tension between the DCA and the DCCS was a constant source of stress for me. My primary learning experience in that assignment came from being the JCAHO Project Officer. The excellent lectures in our Baylor QA course provided by LTC Ann Brazil certainly helped me greatly while in that position. Ann saved many a JCAHO project officer with her sound advice and quick wit. I know she saved me. Although I now teach Quality in the Baylor course, I am still in awe of her tremendous knowledge about quality in both civilian and military medicine. Other fellow Baylor comrades in Europe included Scott Hendrickson, Randy Howard, Joel Bales and Pete Shaul who were JCAHO Project Officers at their respective facilities and so we had an opportunity to experience the Baylor network at its best. The next year, the death of Pete Shaul was a tremendous blow to all who knew him. He was admired by so many for his compassion, intelligence, and willingness to share what he knew with others. For the past three years I have attended the Baylor Closing Ceremony and am always gratified to hear the “Pete Shaul Peer Award” being given to the class mate who is most honored by his peers. The award was initiated and funded by Pete’s classmates, Class of 1989-91.
After my tour in Europe, I proceeded to a policy analyst position in what was then a new creation, a Lead Agency. At Region 10 in Northern California, I learned a great deal about TRICARE. My boss, COL Ken Ansell, USAF, called us “pioneers” and we experienced all the excitement and frustration involved in being pioneers. It was a great assignment and I believe my Managed Care course taught by COL Ron Hudack served me very well, particularly the emphasis on military health care, the Catchment Area Management Program and CHAMPUS Reform Initiative. While he worked us to death in that course, he ensured that we learned a great deal and I often wanted to thank him. While at Region 10, I completed my dissertation and defended it in New York City. Much more importantly, I adopted my first child, Amy, from China, and, as all parents know, my life was forever changed!
After completing my assignment with the Lead Agency and obtaining my PhD, I went after that job I had always wanted, teaching in the Baylor Program. I didn’t succeed, but did manage to get closer to the AHS. Hoping I could get my foot in the door by volunteering to teach a course, I took a position against the advice of my assignment officer, LTC Bob Foster, as Chief, Provider Actions Branch, Quality and Accountability Division, MEDCOM. It was a position that entailed administrative oversight of adverse actions and reports to the National Practitioner Data Bank. I now refer to it as “the most hated MSC position in the AMEDD.” Bob, you were right! After surviving that job by the skin of my teeth, and thanks to the sage advice of a very dear friend and long time colleague, LTC Karen Wagner, I interviewed for and was accepted in a new position as Policy Analyst, TRICARE Division, MEDCOM. I enjoyed that position immensely and worked for two terrific people, COL Karen Ferguson, and LTC Tim Rhodes, my old Baylor classmate and study partner. In addition to Tim, I worked alongside LTC John Felicio and later for LTC Joel Bales and COL Tom Broyles. COL Martha Lupo followed COL Broyles and both were excellent mentors. So many talented Baylor grads in one small office - it was a wonderful 18 months. Then, just as I had almost given up on ever getting to teach in Baylor, a position came open. Thanks largely to the help of my good friend and Baylor colleague, LTC Mary Garr, and the understanding of a great boss, COL Harrison Hassell, I was accepted for a position on the Baylor faculty. To my amazement, my dream seemed to be coming true. When I walked into the Baylor faculty offices and saw all those books and those incredibly cluttered desks, I felt like I was coming home. And, thankfully, I discovered that I loved teaching.
CDR Dan Dominguez, USN, served as Director of the Baylor Program during my tenure on the faculty. He was our first non-Army director. I am so very proud that the Army had the wisdom to allow an incredibly talented man like Dan to take the reigns of the Baylor Program for those two years and did not hold him back because he was not Army. Dan was a constant supporter and a wonderful mentor to so many faculty members and students in the Baylor Program, including myself. Thanks to Dan, and the support of another great boss and mentor, LTC Mark Perry, our Department Chief, I received the recommendation to be the next director. Accepting it would mean another first for Baylor - a woman director. To be honest, I was hesitant at first to accept the position. The Baylor leadership has been “male” for so long, I thought there would be resistance at every turn and worried that my tenure would be fraught with anger and frustration. I voiced these fears to Mark Perry and we talked about it at some length. He ended the conversation with a joke, saying, “Don’t worry, if you screw up, they’ll just blame it on the fact that you are a woman.” We laughed so hard at that one, and shortly after I decided to go ahead and jump in. I accepted the job as director in August of 2003 and am so happy that I did. There have been several mistakes, to be sure, and many frustrations, but so far I don’t think any were gender related. And there is tremendous reward in being associated with the Baylor Program, in whatever the capacity.
During my tenure on the Baylor faculty, I adopted my second daughter, Cady, also from China. Cady and her sister Amy have been my greatest blessings. My dream family and dream job had both come true – every day I have to pinch myself to make sure this is real. As I reflect on it, the friends, bosses, and colleagues I’ve known due to the Baylor connection have influenced my entire career. Every quarter I’m asked to speak with potential 70A students attending the Advanced Course. The question they never fail to ask is: If I can become a DCA from any 70 AOC, why should I become a 70A? I tell them this: The 70A field is more than a DCA producing field. It offers diversity and so many possibilities such as policy analyst positions at RMCs, MEDCOM, OTSG, and HA/TMA. These positions require you to look at the big picture and in them you can have far reaching influence. If you decide to be a DCA, you will be prepared. If you choose another path, you might obtain a doctorate, and, perhaps, the opportunity to be a professor in this great Baylor Program. I can honestly look them in the eye and say it has been the greatest career I could imagine.