QUIET NIGHT TRANSFORMED TO CHAOS LEADS SOLDIER TO LECOM On call in Iraq, a quiet night was about to devolve into chaos for Justin Espland and his fellow Army Physician Assistant, both working a 24-hour shift at a battalion aid station (BAS) located on forward operating base Taji. It was a clear night in June 2011 when BAS soldiers began to receive enemy fire from insurgents. The insurgents had established a point of origin site near the aid station and they began to fire 81mm mortars at the BAS. Warning sirens blared and Espland took immediate cover on the floor of the station. Mortar rounds seemed fiercely unremitting. After 71 impacts, the “all clear” signal finally sounded. The physicians began instantly to prepare for casualties to arrive at their station. After just minutes, the walking wounded crossed the medical station threshold. Shortly thereafter, an armored personnel carrier arrived, carrying a severely injured 19 year-old male soldier with multiple penetrating injuries. The young serviceman was unresponsive.
moment that helped Espland realize that practicing medicine and providing patients with high quality care, indeed was the calling of his life. “While deployed to Iraq, I had the privilege to work with an outstanding Lieutenant Colonel and physician, Dr. Richard Scheuring,” Espland recalled. Dr. Scheuring was an osteopathic physician, Board Certified in aerospace medicine, family medicine, and had served as a NASA physician. “From him, I received a superb level of clinical mentorship and a great insight into the way in which an osteopathic physician practices medicine, using the holistic approach,” continued Espland. “It was from his mentorship that I curtailed the methods that I had utilized previously in providing care to American Soldiers; instead now focusing upon the mind, body, and spirit approach to medicine to provide the best care to patients,” he concluded.
Within 25 minutes of receiving five casualties, Espland and his team were able to return three patients to duty and to evacuate two patients for further care; all of them survived.
Espland’s experiences in Iraq precipitated his desire to further his medical education at a school with an estimable reputation and one that stands as an unparalleled leader in teaching in the osteopathic philosophy. Naturally, Espland chose LECOM. The innovative and unique LECOM Accelerated Physician Assistant Program (APAP) is a program that trains Physician Assistants to become doctors; and a path that will lead Espland to the calling of his life.
The initially quiet night, proved to be a remarkably transformative and pivotal
The astute student made note of three important and quite indispensable qualities
Immediately, Espland and his fellow Physician Assistant applied occlusive dressings, established a surgical airway, skillfully treated and tended to the young man, stabilizing him soundly for air transport.
central to a physician’s calling - and integral to a LECOM education. “In my opinion, empathy, integrity, and personal courage are qualities that rank first and foremost in undertaking the practice of medicine. Applying these attributes to the calling, one always will do the right thing, for the right patient, at the right time,” explained Espland. This largely Aristotelian notion may be difficult to implement or requiring of great effort by the physician, but imbuing such attributes within daily routines ensures a high level of quality care. “As a physician assistant, I have strived always to provide my patients with the best medical care available. Moreover, I have had the desire to further develop my clinical knowledge to aid me in providing an even greater level of care. I feel that by becoming a LECOM physician, not only will I better serve my future patients, but I shall have the ability to better treat underserved populations and to serve as a supervising physician for physician assistants who also are caring for the underserved,” noted Espland. LECOM gratefully recognizes the struggles and sacrifices of the servicemen and women who valiantly have carried forward the banner of freedom. Whether in conflict on the battlefields or tending to the injured, their contribution to the cause of liberty is indisputable; and for Justin Espland, the calling of medicine was found in the shattered quiet of one night in Iraq.
Above, left: Justin Espland during target practice, just prior to a mission. Above, right: Justin Espland with an Iraqi physician (back, left) and CPT Dianne Urey, PA. Photos taken in the area of Taji, Iraq.
20 LECOM CONNECTION | FALL 2014 | LECOM.edu