2nd MRB Spring 2011

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Gladiator News delivered on point

Vol: 1 Issue 2 - SPRING 2011

Lieutenant Col. Jose L. Garcia

Dear 2MRB Gladiators, Families and Friends T e start of 2011 has been marked with wonderful accomplish-

ments. eam Gladiator continues to strive to lead on precisionrecruiting eff orts. Although we are still fi ne-tuning our plans andPs, the companies have already ascended to the fi rst, third andfourth places out of 16 brigade companies on AOC closure thetrue measure of precision recruitment. Simply stated, the teamsability and willingness to move with the cheese has placed the bat-talion on top of the board with 18 AOC closures. And, this is just amicro indication of what lies ahead.

T e recruitment of quality healthcare professionals is a challeng-ing mission that requires the dedication and commitment of many,including civic leaders, great Americans throughout our area of op-eration. Although the mission to recruit is our duty as professionals

in arms, we are fortunate to count on many remarkable Americansthat share our focus and desire to fi ll our ranks with the best ourcountry has to off er. In February, we were delighted to celebrateour Grassroots kick-off event with the establishment of the AtlantaMedical Dental Advisory Council. T is event solidifi ed our beliefthat our country is indeed with us. Many extraordinary, infl uentialmembers of the Atlanta medical community attended to share

their insight, advice and spearhead new initiatives to enhance our

recruiting eff orts. It was humbling to visit with these great commu-nity leaders as they paused fromtheir busy schedules to pledgetheir commitment to this nation,Army and our organization.

Lastly, our force continues tostrengthen. Since the last update,we welcomed 11 new membersand their Families to the team.I enjoyed the opportunity tomeet most of them during ourFY11 Annual raining Confer-ence, which took place here in

Huntsville, Ala. T e event servedas an occasion to recognize stellarperformers and team building.

As always, I am honored to serve with them and look forwardto their expected, uplifting contributions.

Again, I sincerely appreciate everyones eff ort and commitmentto our Army. Our AMEDDs strength begins with us.

Congratulations Gladiators second to

none for a successful quarter! We are con-tinuing to move to new heights in this bat-talion as we move toward our goal to reachthe top. William Arthur Ward once said, Ifyou can imagine it, you can create it. If youdream it, you can become it! Not only haveI imagined and dreamed of the success weare embarking upon, but I strive to create asystem that will enhance every level of thiscommand. We are A Battalion of One.

I challenge each of you to work togetherto reach this goal. Not only it is it my desireto have the strongest stations and companies

in USAREC, but it is equally important tohave the strongest family in this command.

T is goal starts with you. Building ahigh performing team requires work. If youwant to be successful, you must fi rst thinksuccess. If you believe in our organization,its purpose and direction, success will follow.Success does not come only with a desirefor it, it comes when people are workingtogether every day, striving to not only bethe best, but doing their best. It requirespeeling back those layers of the organiza-tion that keeps us from moving forward

Way ahead: Strengthening eff ort to complete mission

T ink and visualize success in order to achieve goals fi nding the set of values, traditions and

practices that represents us as a group. Insuccessful organizations the trust, commit-ment, competence, loyalty and respect withwhich each member of the team carry outtheir daily task are unmistakable to thosethat are observing. However, in unsuccessfulorganizations, dysfunction and distrust arenotably pervasive.

So where do you stand in beingsuccessful? What do you do when no one iswatching? Are you motivated to act like theowner of the company/station even at thelowest level? Do you have the capabilities

to be creative and innovative without beingtold to do so? I feel safe in answering eachof these questions with an unqualifi ed yes.Never let what you cant do stop you fromdoing what you can do.

In reaching success, I challenge each ofyou to:

Identify what success looks like to you.Knowing what it looks like will help youdetermine how to get there. Set attainablegoals that will build on your success ratings.Unattainable goals only add stress whichimpacts your performance capabilities.

Establish rust. Rarely is success

built onindividuality.You cantdo it alone.Success isbuilt ona team ofwe not I.Withouttrust, youcannotaccomplishextraordinary

things, be ateam player,build a strong family, or have an exemplarywork environment. Accept Change. Change occurs daily inUSAREC. It is important to understandthis change in order to make it successfulfor not only yourself, but for your familymembers as well.Ownership. When people ownsomething, they tend to take care of it.

Gladiators, thank you and your familyfor all you do for this country, this Army,

and this great team.

Sgt. Maj. Cornelius Mack

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The Sword Spring 2011

Face in the crowd: orre goes the distance

While theres nothing wrong withdirect prospecting, it sure is nice whenyour referral network does the marketingwork for you. T e Miami Medical Recruit-

ing Station coordinated an event throughthe local Grassroots Advisory Board inFebruary which aff orded the opportunityfor several key individuals from the com-munity to conduct a tandem parachutejump from 13,500 feet with the U.S. ArmyGolden Knights. T e goal was to build re-lationships with people who could provideaccess to potential markets in our area, andthats exactly what occurred when eight ofour COIs jumped from a perfectly goodairplane.

T ere arent too many events that leave

a longer-lasting impression on a COIs

palette than traveling 120 mph throughthe air with an Army Soldier strapped tohis or her back. But in case they forget,we made them a personalized video of theexperience to show to family, friends, andco-workers. While it may be an unortho-dox way of building a referral network, it is

eff ective. As a result of the jump, we nowhave direct access to three major hospitalswithin the Baptist Health Network.

Additionally, Florida InternationalUniversity has opened its doors to theArmy Medical Department and welcomedlarge-scale recruiting events on campusgrounds. T e event also helped our sta-tion build relationships with communityoutreach programs, such as Shake-A-LegMiami, aff ording us a chance to give com-munity members with physical challengesan awesome opportunity while gaining

exposure among the Miami public.

While the jump required a fair amountof coordination, the dividends were sub-stantial. For those interested in a similarexperience, the Golden Knights informedus that AMEDD and minority populationare currently their highest priority missionT ankfully for us, theyve decided to makeHomestead, Fl., their permanent wintertraining facility, so well look forward to th

stay next year.

By Capt. David ysonMiami Medical Recruiting Station

Left to Right from the back: Doctors Hospital Vice President Douglas D. Jolly,University of Miami Executive Vice President and Provost T omas LeBlanc,Florida International University of Engineering and Computing Associate

Director of Student Access and Success Stephanie Strange, FIU College ofNursing and Health Sciences Interim Associate Dean and Occupational T erapy

Chairperson Dr. Alma R. Abdel-Moty, FIU Interim Dean and College ofNursing and Health Sciences Professor Dr. Sherry Pontious, FIU College ofNursing and Health Sciences Associate Dean for Administration Dr. Helen Z.

Cornely; Miami Medical Recruiter Capt. David yson, FIU Senior ExecutiveSecretary to Assistant Dean Jasmine Jas and Shake a Leg President HarryHorgan participated in a andem Jump with the Golden Knights in February.

andem jump lands new mission support

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T e 2011 All American Bowl was both

an awesome and humbling experience forColumbus Medical Recruiter Staff Sgt.Jason Zedhkeia. As one of 100 SoldierHeroes honored during the games open-ing ceremonies, Zedhkeia was in a position

2nd MRB scores big at Army All-American Bowl

to attend the Armys premiere recruitingevent and attend a weeks worth of festivi-ties in San Antonio.

Pre-game publicity had Zedhkeiasstory featured in the newspaper and Websites of his Marshall Islands home. T e

story recounted Zed-hkeias heroic actionsas a senior line medicwith the 101st Air-borne Division duringthe battle of Al-Hillahin Iraq for which hewas awarded the Army

Commendation Medalfor Valor.T at story gener-

ated a lot of interest inthe Army, Zedhkeiasaid. I received a lotof good feedback fromthat and think the re-

cruiter in that area is getting lots of calls.

Pre-game events gave Zedhkeia thechance to meet Medal of Honor recipientStaff Sgt. Sal-vatore Giunta,the ArmysVice Chiefof Staff Gen.Peter Chiarelliand SergeantMajor Of theArmy Sgt.Maj. RaymondChandler III.

He also meta number ofhigh schoolall-stars andNHL hopefuls. I hope they remem-ber me when they make it to the NFL,Zedhkeia said.

Columbus recruiter takes spotlight as Soldier Hero

North Carolina COIs put on their Army game faceSamantha Furr is a doctoral student in immunology and and an

instructor at a North Carolina community college. With a desire tojoin the military herself, Furr is also in a position to infl uence studentsand community members. In that infl uencer role, Furr attended theAll American Bowl and its surrounding festivities.

It was an absolutely amazing opportunity and made me feel reallygood about my goal to be in the Army and about spreading the mes-sage, Furr said.

Furr and Dr. . Ryan Draper, a physician with Murphy Wainer Or-

thopedic Specialists in Greensboro, N.C. ,were among about

100 Centers of Infl uence (COIs) to attend the event.Of course the highlight was the tandem jump with theGolden Knights, Furr said. Ive shown that video to every-one I know.

Both COIs were nominated to attend the event by Ra-leigh Recruiting Station OIC Capt. Michael McCray whoaccompanied the pair during the weeklong festivities in SanAntonio.

Staff Sgt. Jason Zedhkeia fl anked by two All-American Bowl football players.

Zedhkeia poses with Gen. Peter

COI Samantha Furr takes a leap with the Golden Knights.

COIs Samantha Furr and Dr. . Ryan Draper and their escort, Capt. Michael McCraypose with the USAREC team including Command Sgt. Maj. Luther Legg, Maj. Gen.Don Campbell, Col. Scott Dingle and Command Sgt. Maj. odd Moore.

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San Juan works dental conventionRecruiters from San Juan Medical Recruit-ing Station made their mark at this yearsannual dental convention the only dentalconvention on the island. Our goal wasto generateinterest andwe did that,said San JuanMRS StationCommander

Sgt. 1st ClassNelson Colon.Recruitersalso raffl ed anIPod and apair of Oakleysunglasses to help generate traffi c to thebooth. In the photo above, Colon presentsthe sunglasses to Dr. Erick Serrano. If youneed raffl e prizes for your event, contactbattalion operations.

Orlando supports NASCAR

Orlando Medical Recruiting StationCommander Sgt. 1st Class Abel Plasenciomans a booth at the Daytona 500 race inDaytona in February.

Nashville Company hosted the DeputyCommander for Joint ask Force Capi-tal Region Medical Brig. Gen. StephenJones who served as guest speaker at theVanderbilt Pre-Health Professions Meet-ing. Jones is graduate of the VanderbiltUniversity School of Medicine. T is wasthe fi rst event geared towards Vanderbilt

pre-med and medical students this year.

Dr. Jae Ho Shim recently walked thehalls of Martin Army Community Hospi-tal as an enlisted man. But today he is an

Army offi cer.Im very excited, Shim said of his

commissioning during a ceremony atMartin Army Community Hospital wherehe traded in his specialist rank for silvercaptains bars. Ive not heard of any case

like this. It has been a long process and Iam glad it fi nally happened.

Commissioning anArmy specialist is a rareoccurrence. Althoughit happens more oftenamong the nurse ranks, itspractically unheard of formedical corps physicians.

Impossible, unlikelyand unprecedented are thewords that that describe

Jaes journey, said Lt. Col.Mark Higdon, director ofresidency training for theMACH Family Medi-cine Residency Program.Higdon administered theoath that marked Shimstransition from the enlistedto the offi cer ranks.

Shim, a native of SouthKorea, moved to the United States whenhe was 13. He attended Ross UniversitySchool of Medicine in the Caribbean and

did his clinical rotations in New York andNew Jersey hospitals. Shim then enlistedin the Army as a medic, attracted by bene-fi ts and student loan repayment. He servedin a cavalry line unit at Fort Drum, N.Y.,before he began exploring other options.

His enlisted time is something forwhich Shim said he is grateful. T e ex-perience as a line-unit medic is somethingmost doctors dont get, Shim said. Imglad I had that opportunity.

It was a lieutenant who fi rst discoveredShims education and desires to practice

medicine. T at information was broughtforward and Higdon said he had his fi rstconversation with Shim about two years

ago. After a review of his qualifi cationsand an interview, he was approved forthe Family Medicine residency programat MACH. Higdon said the process tocommission Shim involved many peopleand the goodwill of Army leadership. Imexcited to be a part of it, Higdon said.

For Shim, performing residency dutiesas a specialist sometimes caused someconfusion. T ere were some awkwardmoments, but no one ever gave me a hardtime Shim said. Everyone knew mysituation. Sometimes I belonged here.Sometimes I belonged there.

While there was no defi ned path for

this particular transition, Higdon saidShim was a good candidate to blaze thetrail.

Shim is very professional and sets agood example, Higdon said. We needprimary care physicians and here is a Sol-dier, medic and physician. Its win-win.

As a recruiter for the Columbus MedicalRecruiting Station, Sgt. 1st Class MichaelPearson said the experience of bringingShim into the offi cer ranks was unprec-edented. It was an unusual situation andone we can learn from, he said. In theend, it worked well for the Soldier and theArmy.

Specialist turns captain

Army Healer

Spotlight

Nashville hosts Vanderbilt Alum

Fort Bennings Martin Army Community Hospital Family MedicineResidency Program Director Lt. Col. Mark Higdon administers the oathto Spec. Jae Ho Shim who is fi nishing up his residency.

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rend toward hospital employment

Many physicians, specialists in particular, are seeking hospitalemployment to relieve the stress of high malpractice rates, thestruggle for reimbursement, administrative functions and thegeneral risks and hassles of private practice. So much so, nationalhealthcare search and consulting fi rms specializing in the recruit-ment of physicians are concentrating their eff orts on hospitalsettings (51percent of recruiting eff ort concentrated on hospitals).Source: National Association of Community Health Centers.Health Center Salary & Benefi ts Report 2009-2010)

Strong demand for specifi c specialtiesIn cases where health facilities have proceeded with physician re-cruiting, the strongest area of demand remains primary care (fam-ily practice) and general internal medicine. Primary care (familypractice) physicians are the most requested search assignments fornational healthcare search and consulting fi rms specializing in therecruitment of physicians for four consecutive years.

Increase in fi nancial incentivesT e continued demand for primary care (family practice) physi-cians is having an upward trending eff ect on fi nancial incentivesin the requested search assignments for national healthcare searchand consulting fi rms specializing in the recruitment of physi-cians. T e demand for primary care (family practice) physicians isunderscored by the fact that low fi nancial incentives off ers made

to this group has increased in 2009 / 2010. (Source: National As-sociation of Community Health Centers. Health Center Salary &Benefi ts Report 2009-2010)

Community Health Centers (CHCs)T e new health reform law is expected to provide insurance tomore than 30 million patients who now lack medical coverage.Many of these patients will be seen at Community Health Cen-ters (CHCs) which are assuming a larger role in providing carefor traditionally underserved populations. Federally-qualifi edcommunity health centers are a linchpin in the nations healthcaredelivery system, providing care in underserved areasboth rural

and urbanand to those who are poor, uninsured and under-insured. T eir role will become even more important when 32million Americans have coverage for healthcare. T e role com-munity health centers play in providing care for the underserved.By 2015, the centers are estimated to generate $54 billion in totaleconomic activity and create 284,000 new full-time equivalentjobs in their local communities. Knowing pay is not likely to bea CHCs most attractive benefi t for physicians, the two benefi tsnot related to income such as lifestyle (quality of life) and prac-tice customization should be given consideration as the reasonphysicians chose CHCs. Flexibility, such as part-time employ-ment, possibly locum tenens, may also be a factor in choosing topractice in a CHC.

Another addition to salary is the loan forgiveness program throughthe National Health Service Corps in which physicians can receive$145,000 in student loan repayments over fi ve years.

Based on a recent survey of 402 CHCs, annual turnover rates for

physicians are relatively low, ranging from a high of nearly 8 per-cent to a low of less than 1 percent.

Hospitals acquiring group practiceso meet the demand for specifi c medical specialties and in part toprepare for the Medicare Shared Savings Program for AccountableCare Organizations, an initiative of the new healthcare reform lawslated to start in 2012, a growing number of hospitals intend onacquiring group practices or employing physicians. According to asurvey of 258 hospital leaders:

74 percent say they plan to employ a greater number of physi-

cians in the next 12 to 36 months. 70 percent say they have received increased requests from physi-cian group for employment. 61 percent plan on acquiring medical groups in the next 12 to36 months.(Source: National Association of Community Health Centers.Health Center Salary & Benefi ts Report 2009-2010)

Recruiter PVisit your medical schools on a weekly basis. (Live there!) It is un-derstood that there are no two- or three-year HPSP slots availablebut your main focus should be FAP/SRAP and one-year HPSP orMSSP targeting the third and fourth year students.

racking trends in the healthcare marketBy Anthony RobinsonS-2, Mission and Market Analysis

Orlando Company Commander Capt. Rodney Hankins administers the oath toSecond Lt. Chelsea Harris.

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Grassroots advisory board kicks off in Atlanta


Atlanta Company hosted the battalions inaugural

Grassroots Medical Advisory Board meeting inFebruary. welve community members attended,representing the Atlanta Medical Center, More-house School of Medicine, Saint Josephs Hospital,Spelman College, Georgia Institute of echnologyGeorgia Bio and the Piedmont Heart Institute.T e CASA for the state of Georgia also attended.T e reception was both collaborative and enthusi-astic with a productive exchange of ideas. T e nextadvisory board will stand up in Nashville.

T e battalions fi rst opportunity to use the DRASH equipped

as a Mobile Operating Room for a Forward Surgical eam tookplace at East Carolina University in January. CRNA students,faculty members and medical students had an opportunity tovisit the setup and talk with Subject Matter Experts about itscapabilities and equipment. Above, Raleigh Recruiter Sgt.1st Class Ian rammell explains Army medical oportunities tovisitors. op right, Raleigh Recruiter Capt. Micahael McCrayspeaks with nursing stuents. Bottom right, SMEs visit withfaculty members.

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SFC Monica Godfrey, Raleigh

Welcome Gladiators

Promotions

Maj. Amy McIntoshMaj. Ann LaturnoSFC Joshua WallerSFC Hassan Fuller

SSG Michael Bone, Raleigh

Highlights from 2011 Annual raining Conference

Photos contributedby SFC Michal Alves

SFC Allen Sconiers, Raleigh

SGT Harry Young, Miami

1LT Renee Barron, Birmingham

SGT Ming Gomez, Miami

SFC Shawn Xavier, Gainesville

SGT Ty Curry, Tampa

SGT Martell Todd, Memphis

Not pictured:

Documents

2nd MRB Spring 2011