When you join the Commissioned Corps, you become part of a dedicated team of professionals who work to improve the health of individuals, communities, and the Nation.

Meet some of the medical officers in the Commissioned Corps below, or visit the Physician Professional Advisory Committee Web site.

Captain Sarah Linde-Feucht, Board Certified
Family Practice Physician, Chief Public Health Officer, Health Resources and Services Administration

Serving vulnerable populations – in and out of the clinical setting
Whether in an exam room or a conference room, Dr. Linde-Feucht is always striving to achieve our nation’s health goals. Raised in Bethesda, MD, CAPT Linde-Feucht earned a degree in Biology from the University of Maryland. She entered the Commissioned Corps in 1988 and took an assignment to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences where she attended medical school.

Wanting to help vulnerable populations, but struggling with the idea of balancing medical school debt with what would be a modest income, she was excited to learn about the partnership between the Uniformed Services University and the U.S. Public Health Service. “I could earn my education, come out the other end debt free and really focus on helping the underserved rather than paying back loans.”

Following medical school, CAPT Linde-Feucht accepted a three-year assignment as a National Health Service Corps clinician to a community health center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. During her assignment in West Virginia, she expanded the service area by opening and directing a satellite community health center in Inwood, West Virginia, improving care to the local population. Dr. Linde-Feucht eventually chose to switch gears in her career, subsequently serving from 2001-2007 in the Office of Orphan Products Development within the Food and Drug Administration where she helped with the development and regulatory processes to assure the safety and efficacy of health products brought to the marketplace for patients with rare diseases.

From 2007-2010, CAPT Linde-Feucht served as Deputy Director, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This position enabled Dr. Linde-Feucht to make an impact on a national level as she focused on population health developing and coordinating a wide range of national disease prevention and health promotion activities, including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, and Healthy People.

In April 2010, CAPT Linde-Feucht began serving as a Senior Public Health Advisor in the HHS Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Office of Regional Operations and Office of the Administrator where she is works to advance HRSA’s mission “to improve health and achieve health equity through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce, and innovative programs.” In 2011, she accepted the position of Chief Public Health Officer of HRSA. In this role, CAPT Linde-Feucht serves as a member of the HRSA executive leadership team and as a senior policy advisor to HRSA administrator, Dr. Mary Wakefield, on clinical and public health issues. CAPT Linde-Feucht advances Dr. Wakefield’s workforce and innovative programs, collaborating on national public health issues across the federal government and with external partners and stakeholders.

In addition to her day-to-day duties, CAPT Linde-Feucht also serves as the team leader for one of five Capital Area Provider Teams, which provide medical support to the National Park Service, the Office of the Attending Physician at the Capitol and other National Capital Area activities such as July 4 fireworks, the Cherry Blossom Festival and Presidential Inaugurations. CAPT Linde-Feucht also served on “Alpha Team” during Hurricane Katrina, deploying before the storm came ashore to provide immediate assistance. She served in January 2002 as part of “Operation Final Push,” a joint venture with the District of Columbia Department of Health to provide underprivileged children in the city with immunizations.

Captain Jeff Salvon-Harman, MD
United States Coast Guard Health, Safety, and Work-Life Service Center (HSWL SC) Operational Medicine Division Chief

As a new physician completing training in the mid-1990s, Jeff Salvon-Harman envisioned a long and prosperous career in private practice. However, an unfulfilling and disillusioning experience in private practice coupled with fond memories of a residency rotation with Indian Health Services (IHS) in New Mexico ultimately shaped his future, a life of service.

Upon graduation from medical school at Tufts University in Boston, CAPT Salvon-Harman entered a Family Medicine residency program at Carilion Health System in Roanoke, Virginia. During this time, he completed a rotation through the IHS in New Mexico (at both Acoma/Canoncito/Laguna and Mescalero), his first exposure to what would end up being a career with the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). For family reasons, though, he accepted a position in a private practice located in Eugene, Oregon, which he soon came to regret. “After about four months on the job, I realized private practice wasn’t all that I thought it would be,” he said. “I was saddled with debt from medical school and dismayed with healthcare finance, so I re-examined the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the opportunities with the Indian Health Service. The rest, as they say, is history.”

Accepting his commission in 1998 as a Lieutenant (0-3), Dr. Salvon-Harman began his PHS career in the Indian Health Service serving at Tuba City Indian Medical Center in northern Arizona on the Navajo reservation. He was rewarded with an unforgettable cultural experience and diverse opportunities to provide quality healthcare to “those who need it most.”

Additionally, CAPT Salvon-Harman received what he called “incredible benefits,” including loan repayment and bonus pays, which significantly improved his post-graduate quality of life. “I didn’t consider all of the economic advantages that the Commissioned Corps provides until I was in private practice and swimming in student loan debt,” he said. “I was able to become financially stable while serving a population with minimal access to healthcare. And I found that I enjoy the ‘esprit d’ corps’ of serving in uniform.”

CAPT Salvon-Harman departed Tuba City in 2001 as a Lieutenant Commander (0-4), choosing a position with the U.S. Coast Guard at Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, as a PHS Medical Officer for his next assignment . While stationed there, he received training as a Flight Surgeon. This was an unexpected bonus to become a member of the aviation community while continuing to practice medicine, to take on new professional challenges and to experience life saving outside of the clinical setting. In 2002, his fellow junior officers recognized Dr. Salvon-Harman as a leader, electing him as the inaugural Chair of the Junior Officer Advisory Group, which consults with the Office of the Surgeon General.

Since then, CAPT Salvon-Harman has served at four Coast Guard duty stations in Alabama, Washington and Virginia, respectively. During that time he has accumulated more than 500 hours of flight time as a flight surgeon and was promoted twice resulting in his present rank of Captain (0-6).

In 2007, while stationed at Air Station Port Angeles, Washington, CAPT Salvon-Harman received the PHS Physician Professional Advisory Council (PPAC) Clinical Physician of the Year Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the PHS medical community.

Currently, he serves in an administrative role in charge of the Coast Guard’s medical quality assurance process that evaluates the performance of treatment facilities against established standards. He supervises 13 medical executives, all of whom serve as the top medical officers at each regional practice.

In 2010, he coordinated the designation of Coast Guard Corpsman, Physician Assistants, and Physicians for deployment to assist in the response to the earthquake in Haiti and medical support to the overall Coast Guard mission following the Deepwater Horizon (BP Oil Spill) incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

CAPT Salvon-Harman is very fond of the Coast Guard and will ultimately complete his PHS career there; however, he is also very fond of where he started his rewarding career of public service and will always hold dear his memories of the Indian Health Service.

“There are so many positives to the Commissioned Corps,” he said. “There is a breadth of varied opportunities to do what you want to, there is the honor of serving your country and then there is the reward of seeing the difference it makes to your fellow man. I’ve never once looked at myself in the mirror and been ashamed of anything I’ve done serving this country – it provides me incredible peace of mind.”

Captain Mary Agocs
Physician, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The cornerstone of public health research
As an epidemiologist and program leader at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CAPT Agocs has focused on global disease prevention and control in the Commissioned Corps, often working with national governments abroad and the World Health Organization. CAPT Agocs reflects, “My 20 years in the Commissioned Corps has given me substantial leadership opportunities. It’s amazing to have helped millions of children in developing countries get the polio vaccine. Each position I’ve held in the Corps provided a wonderful opportunity to learn about different people and cultures. I cannot imagine a more diverse or rewarding career.”

Captain Richard Thomas Caldwell
Physician, Indian Health Service

Sole health care provider for a remote American Indian community
CAPT Caldwell is an experienced medical officer who is the sole health care provider for the Havasupai American Indian community in Arizona. His dedication to his job ensures that he is always available to provide calm, confident, and experienced medical care to a community that is underserved and lives in a very remote location. CAPT Caldwell also works with wilderness rescue in the Grand Canyon to respond to emergencies involving visitors to the National Park. "Serving as the sole medical officer for the community is demanding, but it is also extremely rewarding," says CAPT Caldwell.

Commander Joshua Schier
Physician, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

A medical toxicologist at the CDC
As a medical toxicologist at the CDC, LCDR Schier is part of a team responsible for protecting the country's health from terrorist acts involving chemical agents. LCDR Schier and his team constantly monitor and analyze the data for many chemical-based public health threats. LCDR Schier is a trained physician and is board-certified in both emergency medicine and medical toxicology. "Service to the Corps is a demonstration of a commitment to a higher purpose, beyond simply doing one's job," says LCDR Schier.

Captain Thomas Martin Manning
Physician, Indian Health Service

Teacher and healer
For more than 20 years, CAPT Martin Manning has been practicing medicine in the American Indian community in Warm Springs, OR. CAPT Manning has always looked at his role as more than just rendering medical care. He believes that doctors "need to be teachers, even more than they need to be healers." Therefore, in addition to providing medical care, CAPT Manning also strives to help members of the tribe to develop a respect for their culture and deal with problems such as alcoholism. Over the last few years, CAPT Manning has worked to computerize medical records at Warm Springs.

Commander Jamal Gwathney
Physician, Health Resources and Services Administration

Serving where the need is greatest
LCDR Gwathney cares for patients with some of the poorest health statistics in our Nation's capital. "That is where the Commissioned Corps puts you: where the need is greatest," he says. In his current assignment through the Health Resources and Services Administration, LCDR Gwathney serves as associate medical director at East of the River Health Center, a Unity Health Care facility located in Washington, DC's Ward 7. As a family medicine physician, he provides cradle-to-grave care for his mostly African-American patients. In addition, LCDR Gwathney is a member of the Commissioned Corps' elite Ready Responders program. Approximately 70-80 Commissioned officers are trained specifically to decontaminate and treat individuals and communities in the event of any type of natural or human-made disaster. Being involved in all of these aspects of public health makes LCDR Gwathney proud to be an officer in the Commissioned Corps.

Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat
Physician, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Preventing a global outbreak
When nobody knew what to do about SARS, RADM Schuchat of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps was on her way to China to head the Beijing City epidemiology team for the World Health Organization's (WHO's) China office. "Upon arriving, the social impact was evident immediately," RADM Schuchat explains. "There was almost no one in the streets, businesses were closed, citizens were recluse, and the whole health care system had to be revamped to specifically address this outbreak." RADM Schuchat continues to serve as a visiting professor for the Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During her career at CDC in the United States, she has joined colleagues for numerous emergency response activities, including the 2001 anthrax bioterrorism response.