From Military Intelligence to Medicine ... Iraq n i ison m a J Dr.
and Kosov o...
er, h t bro r. r J e h h nick, t i d w on an rry C Ha
Suzanna Jamison, M.D., took an unusual path to get where she is today—a doctor at Carilion Clinic and in the Army Reserve.
And while she jokes that her father might have preferred she take a more direct route to a medical degree, her family wasn’t one to make ordinary choices. “My parents were both lawyers—my dad went on to become district attorney of New Orleans, and my mom became a judge,” says Dr. Jamison. “But while working during law school, they decided to buy a business and run it together instead of taking typical hourly jobs. “They ran a record shop because they loved music. Music was important to my family, and my brother really took to it at a very young age.” Dr. Jamison is referring to singer, musician, and actor Harry Connick, Jr. “For me, I decided that professionally I wanted a job that allowed me to talk with people and understand them,” she says. “I approached the Army and told them what I was interested in doing, and they handed me the job description of an interrogator.” Dr. Jamison served as an interrogator gathering military intelligence for eight years. When her term of service was up, she knew that she wanted to stay within the military as an Army reservist. “Using my G.I. Bill, I decided to go to
By Allison Buth
nursing school,” Dr. Jamison says. “I went from enlisted soldier to Army nurse. Then during my time as a psychiatric nurse, I realized that I wanted more autonomy and responsibility for my patients. I felt I’d be in a better position to educate the treatment team as a physician and could speak on behalf of patients more effectively.” Dr. Jamison became a commissioned Army physician in 2004 after completing medical school. After her residency, with specialties in internal medicine and psychiatry, she was eligible to go on deployments as a reservist. She was sent to Iraq in 2010 and to Kosovo in 2012 to provide psychiatric care to American soldiers and civilians. “Soldiers are very resilient and oriented towards maximizing their functioning,” she says. “Whatever may be bothering them can really affect their job or relationships, so they have a real incentive to work to get better. Most soldiers are interested in receiving therapy to get over issues they are facing, which is really neat.” “I’ve found the Army to be very supportive of providing psychiatric care to soldiers, and my colleagues here have been so understanding and helpful when I’m gone. I couldn’t do the deployments without everyone’s support. Because I have that, deployments have been a great experience for me.”
CarilionClinic.org | FALL 2013
15