Q&As with VA investigators who served in the military about what inspired their military and research careers, and how their work today is helping their fellow Veterans
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“It’s always nice to get a paper published or to secure a grant award. But my best experiences have been talking with the Veterans who complete my trials and come out of them with a better quality of life. There’s no feeling like it.” |
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“I may no longer be in uniform. But my career has enabled me to continue to be part of the overall military mission and work toward helping those who are serving or who have served. I’m proud and humbled by the opportunity to continue to serve in this manner.” |
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“The key to success is to determine what you are passionate about and then pursue those passions. If you are doing what you love to do, then the rest comes easy. I am also a firm believer that through hard work and determination, anything is possible.” |
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“Improving life for Veterans is one of the cornerstones of my research program. At the end of the day, I work for Veterans. I hope to dedicate the next few decades of my life to the health and well-being of Veterans with neurological conditions.” |
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"Finding out what is truly important to you at your core and what you are good at are keys to success. However, this is not easy. Failure is part of that process. But once you find something that clicks, it's an amazing feeling, and opportunities appear when you least expect them." |
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"As a Veteran, it's amazing to consider that the work I'm doing could directly affect how patients receive care. Improving access, especially for rural populations and Veterans who live where I did as a kid, is near and dear to my heart." |
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"I find a common bond with Veteran patients that is different from the normal doctor-patient relationship. When they find out I'm a Navy captain, we're brothers in about five minutes." |
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"I hope to see to it that the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury progresses to the point of more precise diagnoses of TBI-related brain changes and improved treatment." |
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"Keep exploring, move the research forward, and provide the best care possible for our Veterans. Now is not the time to quit." |
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"Life's greatest successes are usually hiding behind vast amounts failure. If you live to avoid failure, you also live to avoid your greatest successes." |
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"The possibility of making life better for Veterans through research at HERL is exactly what I wanted out of a career. I am grateful every day for the opportunity." |
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"The secret to my success is an unwillingness to listen to the little voice that says I cannot do it. We are our own greatest enemies when it comes to accomplishing things." |
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"Persistence is a key element for success. It is important to set goals and to persist in pursuit of them." |
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“I strive to exemplify the definition of integrity put forth by author C.S. Lewis: 'Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.’ These values have guided my actions throughout my career and have been key to my success.” |
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“I am inspired by President John F. Kennedy, who said, "And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." That is a foundation I have believed in my whole life. ” |
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“My favorite saying is attributed to Hannibal, the Carthaginian general: 'I will find a way, or I will make one.' For the research community, that translates to, 'How do we get to yes.' ” |
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“I probably owe most of my success to my mom and dad. From them, I learned humility, hard work, and empathy—the three core values and guiding aspects of my life.” |
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“I feel like VA is where I was always supposed to be. It’s like being part of a family again.” |
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"I find that Veterans appreciate seeing a physician who is also a Veteran and has a handle on the challenges of serving in the military." |
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"Detours and failures are likely. But instead of viewing them as barriers to success, characterize them as opportunities for growth." |
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"The perseverance to achieve in the face of adversity is something that we all possess. Sometimes, it just takes a helping hand to realize that." |
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"Drug safety and effective drug treatment are best achieved through personalized medical research and precision health care." |
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"I feel a close kinship with my patients. I've served with them and experienced life with them as a reservist and active duty surgeon." |
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"Seeing Veterans every day when I enter and leave the building is very motivating...I want to keep doing research that can help them lead healthier and happier lives." |
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"The military will lose battles and research experiments will fail, but through determination and persistence, success will be achieved." |
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"I think that being mindful, having perseverance, and above all, being kind to all, which is not always easy to do, are important keys to success." |
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"It's difficult to express the joy of true discovery–learning something that no one else knows." |
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"I can see the impact of thoughtful, well-designed technologies on disabled people...I can see directly how life-changing these innovations can be, and that everything we do can potentially increase a person's freedom." |
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"If one Veteran has a better life because of any of the things that I study, then to me my life is a success." |
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"I found that being involved in research is what I love the most to do, whether it's doing research myself, mentoring others, or managing clinical trials." |
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"Much of my research has focused on the problems of aging skin, which is a growing problem within VA because of the changing demographics of our Veteran patient population." |
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"As an active-duty dietitian in the Army, I was able to experience firsthand the exposures that service members and Veterans have to many nutritionally related digestive disorders." |
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"Service to country has been a tradition in my family. My father was a tank commander in the Korean War." |
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"My military involvement has taught me a lot about my strengths, my capabilities, and my ability to work efficiently and effectively with people on and outside of my team." |
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"I have always wanted to 'push the envelope' with patient care to improve the lives of our patients, especially those afflicted with the devastation of cancer." |
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"I learned how to conduct medicine in very austere conditions, without access to nursing, lab work, or blood in a very up-tempo combat environment. |
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"I can honestly say that my military experience, albeit brief, is something that I cherish to this very day." |
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"My first mentor [my high school geometry teacher] taught me the joyful reward of solving a problem." |
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"I truly loved caring for military personnel and their families. Working and conducting research in VA feels like 'home.'" |
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"Without the right data, we weren't going to succeed. So I set out to be the Army's suicide expert." |
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"I've seen that VA researchers, and in particular those in VA research centers, are really collaborative and supportive. They want to mentor junior researchers." |
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"As I set out on a path to become a VA researcher, I feverishly consumed the work of VA anthropologists like Erin Finley, Sarah Ono, and Ann Cheney. These incredible women made me realize that there is a place for the kind of work I want to do in VA." |
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"I'm especially interested in improving the quality of life and well-being of older Veterans who have multiple chronic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, and osteoarthritis." |
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"If it's easy, you're in the wrong job." |
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"My military and Veteran experience amplifies in my mind the importance of health research to benefit Veterans." |
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"I asked one of my mentors how he chose problems to study. He said he chose problems that made him angry." |
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"When the Air Force told me I'd be stationed at Ramstein outside of Munich, Germany, I declined because the entire Polish side of my family had perished in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz." |
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"I've always felt that my military experience allows me to relate more directly to patients and staff at VA medical centers." |
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"It's very important to believe in yourself, strive to understand, respond positively to critiques, and to seek out others with whom you can collaborate to advance in your work." |
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"I had always wanted to serve, and 9-11 just propelled me to be in the military. It was something I had to do." |
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"I enjoyed and continue to enjoy working with Veterans. They are the most deserving group of patients we can serve." |
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"My experience in the military, particularly at a time when it was unpopular and when no one was saying 'thank you for your service' after we came home, helps me bond with many Veterans disaffected by wars and society." |
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"After my injury, I had to plot a new course in life. I don't think that it matters anymore. I've found my calling...." |
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"Whether it is simply having the shared experience of shining and wearing combat boots, carrying a rucksack, eating a ready-to-eat meal, or having seen the acute effects of an IED...all of these experiences provide familiarity to patients and can be key to establishing rapport." |
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"Being a Veteran has improved my compassion for other Veterans and has provided more insight into current and future needs for our Veterans." |
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"Being a Vet myself creates a connection to Veterans that is different from the connections I have to patients who are not Veterans." |
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"Being a Veteran definitely fuels my passion to find answers." |
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"It is an extraordinary task to pull Veterans from the military mindset of 'adapt and overcome.'" |
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"My research involves applying mathematical and physical methods to solve medical problems." https://vaww.research.cfde.webdev.va.gov/ |
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"I feel that being a Vet gives me some insight into military-connected health conditions that need more research for prevention and treatment." |
Dr. Leonard Skeggs was a VA clinical chemist who invented the continuous flow analyzer, which eased the process for carrying out routine blood screenings.
