JBSA-FORT SAM HOUSTON –
I am writing this article from Washington, D.C., while attending the American Legion's National Credentialing Summit.
The focus of this summit is to educate and foster collaboration among attendees from a variety of career fields so they can return to their communities and remove the barriers that impede veterans as they embark on civilian careers.
Healthcare is a major part of this summit that highlights all five ser¬vices. To no surprise, the Medical Education & Training Campus plays a key role at this summit.
It is with pride that I sit in the audience while lis¬tening to Cmdr. Mitch Seal, former METC Director of Strategic Planning and Partnership, participate in a "Best Credentialing Prac¬tices in Health Care" panel that highlights the METC bridge programs offering additional degree opportu¬nities for our graduates.
METC has 43 partner schools in 23 states that represent 842 METC pro¬gram-specific opportuni¬ties for degree completion at the associate, bachelor and graduate level for military-trained allied healthcare personnel.
This means 43 schools in the United States recognize the value of a METC education and re¬ward our graduates with significant credit result¬ing in less time pursu¬ing higher degrees in a wide array of health care specialties.
An example is the combat medic, corpsmen or med tech who decides to take advantage of a semester's worth of credit at a bridge program school that can lead to a registered nurse with an associate's degree with only one additional year of training.
Some don't stop there and continue on to obtain their bachelor's degree or higher ... simply amaz¬ing! If this brings to mind the METC motto of "train for the mission ... edu¬cate for a lifetime", then we are thinking alike.
This is even more amazing when you consider that a mere five years ago, METC had just achieved initial operating capability in the summer of 2010. From an educa¬tional standpoint, this is a very short period of time.
In comparison, the Uniformed Services University, which also conducts tri-service train¬ing for doctors, nurses and dentists, opened its' doors more than 40 years ago in 1972 and compari¬sons between the quality medics coming from both schools is already occur¬ring.
It goes to show that with the right mix of visionary leadership at all levels and hard work¬ing staff committed to a single mission, amazing things can happen.
Whether a military medic is supporting the war effort or transition¬ing to support their hometown community as a military veteran, I thank our incred¬ible staff for METC's success.
Instructors, headquar¬ters staff, administrative assistants, logistics and facility support personnel are all critical members of the METC family, and that is just naming a few.
I have no doubt that the METC team will eclipse 1,000 new METC-based degree completion opportunities in the very near future.
Happy 5th Anniversa¬ry METC, and yes ... we are just getting started!