thedrifter
04-03-08, 08:29 AM
At Hospital, Part-Time Marine Prepares for War
Doctor to Trade Obstetrics for Iraq And Trauma Care
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 3, 2008; PG01
Robert Gherman has had to take care of a few pressing matters since July, when he joined a Marine Corps Reserve unit that he knew would probably deploy to Iraq.
For the first time in his life, the 42-year-old physician, who has spent most of his career treating pregnant women, had to shoot a gun. His first time on the range, he fired 10 bullets and didn't hit a thing, he said. He's been practicing since, improving steadily.
He's had to get his affairs in order, designating a power of attorney and helping to find his temporary replacement at Prince George's Hospital Center, where he has worked for 2 1/2 years. One day last week, he photocopied his last will and testament in between administering ultrasounds to women with high-risk pregnancies at the Cheverly hospital.
Gherman, an obstetrician-gynecologist, also had to take a refresher course in treating trauma, a subject he hasn't studied in years. But he said he understands the grim reality that the training might come in handy overseas.
As expected, his unit is scheduled to deploy to Anbar province in the fall. Gherman, who lives in Laytonsville in Montgomery County, will leave the hospital in May to train full time with his Long Island, N.Y.-based unit.
He said he knows he has volunteered to join an unpopular war. His 12-year-old daughter, the eldest of his three children, has expressed reservations. But as long as Marines are fighting, he said, they need and deserve doctors such as him to patch them up.
"The bottom line is, whether you think the Iraq war is right or wrong, there are guys still getting injured," said Gherman, who will be his unit's assistant battalion surgeon.
He joined the military in medical school to help finance his education, and spent 13 1/2 years on active duty in the Navy. During the first part of his military career, Gherman was stationed at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. He was never deployed, and in all that time, he never learned to shoot. His medical practice in the Navy was similar to his current job: treating pregnant sailors and dependents of sailors before their deliveries.
Last summer, the Pennsylvania native, who enjoys running ultra-marathons in his spare time, decided that joining the Marines to help fill a physician shortage was a challenge that he could not pass up.
And since then, he's been brushing up on all types of medicine in preparation to work with the all-male infantry unit he'll be treating.
In Iraq, he will work with a battalion surgeon and 67 corpsmen to handle the needs of a 1,000-member infantry battalion. Gherman's unit will be responsible for treating anything from common colds to combat wounds.
For his Prince George's patients, the news that their wise-cracking, low-key baby doctor will soon head to war came as a surprise.
"I wish him well and pray he'll have a safe return," Yvette Parran, 36, of Clinton, said somberly, upon learning the news about the doctor who had just peered at the fuzzy image of her growing twins on a monitor in a darkened exam room and pronounced that both are girls.
"You should have delivered by the time I get back, which might be good if the baby turns out to be a boy!" Gherman said, lightening the mood.
He said his fellow Marines have been good about not giving him a hard time for being a baby doctor. Part of that might be because he's helping to train medics who will treat Marines in the field, boosting their chances of surviving injury in the so-called "golden hour" immediately after getting wounded.
"Some of them, they've only done one or two IVs in their whole lives," Gherman said of the medics.
In return, he said, the Marines have been helping him get up to speed on combat techniques and weapons training, in case of emergency.
"I think it's a fair trade," he said. "They teach me how to shoot. I give them medical training."
In Iraq, Gherman anticipates going on patrols with his unit. He also will run an aide station, the first place his Marines would be taken if injured. Once stabilized, those who need further care will be sent to more elaborate hospitals in Baghdad.
Gherman said most of the medicine he practices in Iraq will be basic aid. Still, he hopes he might get a chance to use his skills to help treat pregnant Iraqi civilians.
"It's the humanitarian aspect of care," he said.
Gherman's co-workers at Prince George's Hospital Center have been gathering e-mail addresses, preparing to keep in touch while he's away. They're not happy he's leaving, said sonographer Marika Franklin, but they plan to keep him in their thoughts while he is gone.
Like many who are deployed, Gherman said he swings wildly between anxiety and excitement. The day he was formally notified he would be leaving, he became so distracted that he got into a fender-bender on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
"I was just thinking about everything I had to do," he said. "I didn't appreciate before the magnitude of those things."
Since then, he's become more organized. His wife has made pillows with his picture on them for the children. They've also made paper chains with 365 links, one for each day he's scheduled to be gone. The children, ages 12, 7 and 5, will pull off the links one by one.
When he returns from Iraq, Gherman said he plans to return to the Prince George's hospital -- and return to treating pregnant mothers.
"I enjoy this," he said. "You're associated with the giving of life."
Ellie
Doctor to Trade Obstetrics for Iraq And Trauma Care
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 3, 2008; PG01
Robert Gherman has had to take care of a few pressing matters since July, when he joined a Marine Corps Reserve unit that he knew would probably deploy to Iraq.
For the first time in his life, the 42-year-old physician, who has spent most of his career treating pregnant women, had to shoot a gun. His first time on the range, he fired 10 bullets and didn't hit a thing, he said. He's been practicing since, improving steadily.
He's had to get his affairs in order, designating a power of attorney and helping to find his temporary replacement at Prince George's Hospital Center, where he has worked for 2 1/2 years. One day last week, he photocopied his last will and testament in between administering ultrasounds to women with high-risk pregnancies at the Cheverly hospital.
Gherman, an obstetrician-gynecologist, also had to take a refresher course in treating trauma, a subject he hasn't studied in years. But he said he understands the grim reality that the training might come in handy overseas.
As expected, his unit is scheduled to deploy to Anbar province in the fall. Gherman, who lives in Laytonsville in Montgomery County, will leave the hospital in May to train full time with his Long Island, N.Y.-based unit.
He said he knows he has volunteered to join an unpopular war. His 12-year-old daughter, the eldest of his three children, has expressed reservations. But as long as Marines are fighting, he said, they need and deserve doctors such as him to patch them up.
"The bottom line is, whether you think the Iraq war is right or wrong, there are guys still getting injured," said Gherman, who will be his unit's assistant battalion surgeon.
He joined the military in medical school to help finance his education, and spent 13 1/2 years on active duty in the Navy. During the first part of his military career, Gherman was stationed at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. He was never deployed, and in all that time, he never learned to shoot. His medical practice in the Navy was similar to his current job: treating pregnant sailors and dependents of sailors before their deliveries.
Last summer, the Pennsylvania native, who enjoys running ultra-marathons in his spare time, decided that joining the Marines to help fill a physician shortage was a challenge that he could not pass up.
And since then, he's been brushing up on all types of medicine in preparation to work with the all-male infantry unit he'll be treating.
In Iraq, he will work with a battalion surgeon and 67 corpsmen to handle the needs of a 1,000-member infantry battalion. Gherman's unit will be responsible for treating anything from common colds to combat wounds.
For his Prince George's patients, the news that their wise-cracking, low-key baby doctor will soon head to war came as a surprise.
"I wish him well and pray he'll have a safe return," Yvette Parran, 36, of Clinton, said somberly, upon learning the news about the doctor who had just peered at the fuzzy image of her growing twins on a monitor in a darkened exam room and pronounced that both are girls.
"You should have delivered by the time I get back, which might be good if the baby turns out to be a boy!" Gherman said, lightening the mood.
He said his fellow Marines have been good about not giving him a hard time for being a baby doctor. Part of that might be because he's helping to train medics who will treat Marines in the field, boosting their chances of surviving injury in the so-called "golden hour" immediately after getting wounded.
"Some of them, they've only done one or two IVs in their whole lives," Gherman said of the medics.
In return, he said, the Marines have been helping him get up to speed on combat techniques and weapons training, in case of emergency.
"I think it's a fair trade," he said. "They teach me how to shoot. I give them medical training."
In Iraq, Gherman anticipates going on patrols with his unit. He also will run an aide station, the first place his Marines would be taken if injured. Once stabilized, those who need further care will be sent to more elaborate hospitals in Baghdad.
Gherman said most of the medicine he practices in Iraq will be basic aid. Still, he hopes he might get a chance to use his skills to help treat pregnant Iraqi civilians.
"It's the humanitarian aspect of care," he said.
Gherman's co-workers at Prince George's Hospital Center have been gathering e-mail addresses, preparing to keep in touch while he's away. They're not happy he's leaving, said sonographer Marika Franklin, but they plan to keep him in their thoughts while he is gone.
Like many who are deployed, Gherman said he swings wildly between anxiety and excitement. The day he was formally notified he would be leaving, he became so distracted that he got into a fender-bender on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
"I was just thinking about everything I had to do," he said. "I didn't appreciate before the magnitude of those things."
Since then, he's become more organized. His wife has made pillows with his picture on them for the children. They've also made paper chains with 365 links, one for each day he's scheduled to be gone. The children, ages 12, 7 and 5, will pull off the links one by one.
When he returns from Iraq, Gherman said he plans to return to the Prince George's hospital -- and return to treating pregnant mothers.
"I enjoy this," he said. "You're associated with the giving of life."
Ellie