health.mil

Sandra Lea Abrams  |  health.mil

February 21, 2012

 In the halls of the Pentagon and throughout the armed forces, there are signs that women are gaining
The winners of the third annual " Building Stronger Female Physician Leaders in the MHS" award during the 2012 MHS Conference. The conference was held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 2, 2012. The doctors pictured left to right: Public Health Service Cmdr. Mary Dott , Air Force Lt. Col. Kathryn Hughes, Army Col. Anne L. Naclerio, Coast Guard Cmdr. Dana L. Thomas, Army Lt. Col Susan Fondy. Awardee not pictured: Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Calliope Allen. DoD photo by Johnny Bivera. momentum on the leadership front.

Witness the recent elevation of Army Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho – the first nurse and first woman to be named Army surgeon general.  At the third annual “Building Stronger Female Physicians Awards” ceremony held in conjunction with the 2012 Military Health System Conference, six women doctors received special honors.  The awards program is about more than being a good military doctor; selection is also predicated on what one has done specifically as a leader to help other women.

Army Col. (Dr.) Anne Naclerio, chief surgeon for the Army National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va., the senior winner of the award, said she believes leadership is best shown through action.

“I think a lot of leadership and mentorship is not what you say, but what you do.  I have found that I have grown in leadership and mentorship through example.” Naclerio was tapped by Horoho to establish a women’s health task force to review how the military is supporting female service members and is the lead author of a soon to be published white paper titled, “Concerns of Service Women Currently Serving in the Afghanistan Theater of Operations.”

Military affords female physicians wide scope of opportunities
Gaining leadership opportunities can be elusive in the private sector for women which can make the military an attractive career option. That is what Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Susan Fondy, the Army junior winner found.

“In the military I have been given many more opportunities to learn about other people, to learn how to be able to get the most out of people and bring out their strengths. The military has given me opportunities I never had on the civil side,” Fondy said.  During deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, Fondy served as a brigade surgeon, flight surgeon and as a chief of primary care with various battalions.

She is currently a resident in aerospace medicine an Army-Navy combined program at the Naval Aeromedical Institute at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla.

Air Force Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kathryn G. Hughes, the Air Force junior winner, also credits the military with providing a rewarding career path for women. 

“Being in the military and being in military medicine specifically is incredibly rewarding, just because the mission is bigger than you. You are not in it for a lot of personal reasons; you are in it to support the mission,” Hughes said.  As commander of the Aerospace Medical Squadron, one of three squadrons within the 95th medical Group at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Hughes’ areas of responsibility span dental health, public health, bio environmental engineering, wellness programs, flight and operational medicine and support for aviation missions.

Coast Guard Cmdr. (Dr.) Dana L. Thomas, the Coast Guard junior winner, is based in Washington, D.C.  Thomas had served as a physician in the Army prior to joining the Coast Guard and her current assignment with the U.S. Public Health Service.

“In the military, I have had the most amazing experiences.  I have 100 hours of flight time - seat time - on rotary wing helicopters for the Army.  I have deployed six times on the Coast Guard’s tall ship, the one we train our cadets on, the Eagle, as the medical officer six different summers. I have been with the Navy … and catapulted off air craft carrier decks,” Thomas said.

Awards program honors individuals and raises wider awareness
Cmdr. (Dr.) Mary Dott, the U.S. Public Health junior winner, said she appreciates that the “Building
Capt. Tim Weber, chief of staff, TRICARE begins the 3rd annual Building Stronger Female Physician Leaders Award at the 2012 MHS Conference, Feb. 2, 2012 in National Harbor, Md. Behind him pictured left to right: Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense;Health Affairs, Maj. Gen. David Rubenstein, commanding general, US Army Medical Dept Center and School; Vice Adm Matthew L. Nathan, Navy surgeon general; Lt. Gen. Charles B. Green, Air Force surgeon general; Rear Adm. Maura Dollymore, chief medical officer, US Coast Guard; Rear Adm. Boris D. Lushniak, USPHS, deputy surgeon general. DoD photo by Johnny Bivera. Stronger Female Physicians Awards” program shines a spotlight on women military doctors.

“There are so many wonderful female physicians doing such great work throughout the Military Health System and all the uniformed services. So it is really an honor to be recognized and appreciated and I think it speaks to the work many of the female physicians are doing,” Dott said.

Dott, who is now a primary deputy in the Epidemic Intelligence Service for the Centers for Disease       Control in Atlanta, Ga., has long list of accomplishments including developing obstetric practices while deployed to Afghanistan that directly contributed to an 80 percent drop in mortality for newborns with   normal birth weight.
For the past three years, the ceremony to honor female physicians has helped cap the MHS annual conference.  But the impact of the awards does not stop there.  Naclerio, for example, pledges to help other women in the military become leaders.

“This [award] has brought this more into the forefront of my conscience,” Naclerio said. “To make me think what am I doing more actively to reach out to women.”

Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Calliope Allen, the Navy junior winner, was unable to attend the ceremony due to her deployment to NATO’s Role 3 hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan where she is the department head of the operation room and leading a team of 35 staffers.

Credit: DoD photos by Johnny Bivera

Read about the 2011 MHS Building Stronger Female Physician Leaders Award story.

News Stories  |  navy medicine   Coast Guard   Army surgeon general   Air Force   CDC   U.S. Public Health Service   2012mhsconference   army national guard   Dr. Jonathan Woodson   women leaders   careers