Throughout countless battles, the United States military has included some of the finest physicians and surgeons in the world. However, there was a time when a number of these brave men and women were not allowed to serve their country. Determined to not remain sidelined, this distinct group of doctors known as osteopathic physicians (DOs) rose up to fight for acceptance in the armed forces. Today, more than 2,200 DOs serve in the armed forces, many of them deployed to conflict zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

DOs Serving into the 21st Century

Capt. Carrie D. Ayers, DO, MC, USA, is the recipient of the Army Commendation, Army Achievement and Iraqi Campaign medals, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Dr. Ayers continued a family tradition of military service when she flew out last year to Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, as part of the U.S. Army’s 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Her father served in the New Hampshire National Guard and her husband is in the Air National Guard.

Dr. Ayers describes being a military physician and a DO:
After joining my unit in Mosul, I went on several missions outside the base, conducting physical exams for Iraqi police recruits and evaluating Iraqi medical facilities. Then last August, one day before I was slated to go home, the Army extended my tour for four months. I was transferred to an infantry unit in Baghdad.

There, I did a lot of trauma care. I took care of our soldiers as well as Iraqi insurgents who have been wounded by our soldiers. I was at a level 2 medical facility, which didn’t have much equipment or many meds. Often, my job was to keep patients alive until they could be airlifted to the level 3 combat hospital that’s about 10 minutes away by helicopter. There have been a lot of days when I know that I helped save someone’s life.

Cmdr. Richard H. Jadick, DO, MC, USN, is the recipient of the Bronze Star with a Combat "V" for Valor, the first Navy doctor awarded this combination during the current conflict in Iraq. While volunteering for the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, his unit engaged in battle with insurgents in Fallujah. Rather than wait for the wounded to be brought back to him, Dr. Jadick set up a make-shift emergency room in the middle of the battlefield. Dr. Jadick's experiences were featured in Newsweek and in his book On Call in Hell.

Dr. Jadick describes being a military physician and a DO:
The osteopathic medical profession taught me to take a patient under me as a whole being. It also taught me osteopathic manipulative medicine. At the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, where I earned my DO degree, we practiced this hands-on approach two hours almost every day. We palpated, we touched, and through this process, I just thought this is how people learn medicine.

When taking heavy casualties, the medical corpsmen and I would work together as a team. Everybody took a bed and took a patient. We were getting unconscious patients. You would touch the patient from head to toe because that patient couldn't talk most of the time. You had to feel them. You had to palpate them.

Capt. Terry D. Hashey, DO, MC, USAR, a flight surgeon and recipient of both an Army Commendation and Army Achievement medal, returned in November 2006 from a four-month tour to Forward Operation Base Salerno in Afghanistan, where he provided medical care and conducted flight physicals for helicopter pilots, aircrew and support staff.

Dr. Hashey describes being a military physician and providing osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) – a hands-on approach to care that DOs use to treat and diagnose their patients--to soldiers:
Soldiers work hard. They wear heavy body armor, carry heavy loads, and sit in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time. I used OMT often in Afghanistan with great success.

Much like the osteopathic medicine’s philosophy of treating the whole person and the whole family, we take care of the whole unit. And we have to understand how all the soldiers in a unit fit into the scheme of this operation in order to better care for them.

Col. Ronald J. Renuart, DO, MC, FLARNG, was serving his second tour of duty in the Middle East in September 2005 when he was shipped out to Camp Phoenix near Kabul, Afghanistan. As the senior medical officer with the 53rd Infantry Brigade for the Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix IV, which consists of troops from all branches of the US armed forces, the mission was to provide trainers and mentors to help Afghanistan build a professional Afghan national army.

Along the way, Dr. Renuart and his colleagues saved the lives of two Afghan children. Deployed medical officers periodically leave the base to set up clinics for locals, which are known as medical civilian action programs (MED-CAPs). During a MED-CAP, Dr. Renuart and a colleague saw an 8-year-old boy who was blue in color due to a congenital heart defect. In the US, the boy would have been treated as an infant, but there were no Afghan surgeons to correct the ailment. Two days later they came across a 2-year-old boy with a similar condition.

It was clear that without surgery these boys would not make it to their teens. As Renuart and his colleagues looked for a way to help, a care package arrived from his wife which included an article about Patrons of Hearts, an organization based in Jacksonville, Fla., that brings children from foreign countries to the US for cardiac care. Dr. Renuart contacted his hospital in Florida and the following April the boys arrived in Jacksonville and were given a new chance at life.

Lt. Reagan Anderson, DO, MC, USN, was deployed to Iraq for the first time in July 2004 where he joined the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division. Although he was there to assist with medical procedures on the servicemen, he quickly realized the healing power of simple, physical interaction. By holding Marines’ hands and explaining the medical procedures they were undergoing, he would help keep them calm and their blood pressure and pulses in check.

Dr. Anderson used the osteopathic approach of treating the whole person by being aware of his patients’ psychological needs. Through a twice a day visit to each soldier in his battalion, he paid careful attention to his troops’ body language and words, watching for signs of post-traumatic stress syndrome.

During his second tour, he gained popularity among the troops by providing OMT to his battalion. It wasn’t long before word spread and servicemen were making special visits to his base for treatment.

Other Prominent Military Osteopathic Physicians

Col. Ronald A. Maul, DO, MC, USA, is a former command surgeon for U.S. Central Command. In this capacity, Dr. Maul served as the combined forces command surgeon for combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is currently the assistant surgeon general for force sustainment, U.S. Army Medical Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He has received numerous honors throughout his career including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal and the National Defense Service Medal with star device.

Lt. Gen. Ronald R. Blanck, DO, MC, USA (Ret.), began his military career in 1968 as a medical officer and battalion surgeon in Vietnam and rose to the ranks of surgeon general of the U.S. Army and commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command. A three-star general, he is the first osteopathic physician to serve as surgeon general in any of the U.S. commissioned services. Dr. Blanck also served as the Army’s chief of professional services during the first Gulf war.

Rear Admiral Clinton E. Adams, DO, MC, USN (Ret.), served a long and distinguished career as both a military medical officer and an osteopathic physician. Dr. Adams began his career as a medical officer at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Calif. and climbed the ranks to become Rear Admiral in the U S Navy. Upon retirement, he became dean of Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona, Calif. As dean, he passes on the lessons he learned as an osteopathic physician in the military.

Capt. Michael K. Murphy, DO, MC, USN (Ret.), began his military career in 1970 after he received his degree from A.T. Still University- Kirksville (Mo.) College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Murphy entered the US Navy as an ensign and completed his internship and residency in family practice at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Calif. After a distinguished thirty year military career, Dr. Murphy accepted the position of dean of the Des Moines (Iowa) University— College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1998. In 2000, he was recruited to join Pikeville (Ky.) College School of Osteopathic Medicine (PCSOM) as professor in Family Medicine. In 2006 he was appointed associate dean for clinical sciences at PCSOM.