{"id":210194,"date":"2024-06-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=210194"},"modified":"2024-06-26T07:04:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T07:04:21","slug":"new-york-army-guard-medics-train-to-become-pas-and-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=210194","title":{"rendered":"New York Army Guard Medics Train to Become PAs and Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n New York Army National Guard 1st Lts. Adrian Smith, left, and John Gamalski are administered the oath of office by Maj. Gen. Michel Natali, the assistant adjutant general, Army for the New York National Guard, at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point June 7, 2024. The two men were recognized for completing the Interservice Physician’s Assistant Program with their degrees and promotions to first lieutenant. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Lt. Col Luis Garcia)
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WEST POINT, N.Y. – Two New York Army Guard medics are now officers and physician assistants after completing an intensive 29-month program run by the Army\u2019s Medical Center of Excellence at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n

First Lts. Adrian Smith and John Gamalski also earned master\u2019s degrees through the Interservice Physician Assistants Program (IPAP) following a year of clinical work in New York, including rotations at West Point\u2019s Keller Army Community Hospital.<\/p>\n

The \u201cvery demanding course\u201d turns military medical personnel into world-class PAs, the shorthand for physician assistants, according to Lt . Col. Luis Garcia, the New York Army National Guard\u2019s deputy state surgeon.<\/p>\n

He said getting Soldiers through the course is a win for New York because it is tough to recruit qualified PAs and a win for the Soldiers because PAs are in demand across the medical industry.<\/p>\n

Enrolling experienced Soldiers to become PAs, rather than recruiting civilians, means that the new PAs already understand the military and Army medicine, he said.<\/p>\n

The two took their oaths as officers during a special June 7 ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy, presided over by Maj. Gen. Michel Natali, the New York National Guard\u2019s assistant adjutant general, Army.<\/p>\n

Garcia said PAs fill a critical role in Army medical care. They are the primary medical provider at the battalion level and at forward aid stations in combat. They lead medical platoons and detachments and care for Soldiers and their families in garrison environments.<\/p>\n

Smith and Gamalski were great candidates for the IPAP school, Garcia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of them were medics with extensive experience and they have experience with the battlefield and how to treat those patients,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

Smith and Gamalski said that becoming a PA was a goal they had set for themselves.<\/p>\n

Gamalski served six years in the 75th Ranger Regiment and six years in the New York Army Guard\u2019s Medical Readiness Detachment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked under a lot of phenomenal medical leaders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Smith, who has served for 19 years as a medic, said \u201clife happened,\u201d and while working as a police officer and an EMT, he never had the chance to reach that goal.<\/p>\n

On the latest of his four deployments as a member of the 466th Area Medical Company, though, then Sgt. 1st Class Smith, said he decided he would enroll in the military PA course.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, I did, and I got accepted and here I am,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Getting into the Army PA program is not easy.<\/p>\n

Applicants must have 60 credits of college courses in subjects ranging from chemistry to English to human anatomy and Algebra. They need a minimum of 3.0 grades in science and an overall average of 2.5.<\/p>\n

Applicants also must score well on the SAT and the PA-CAT or Physician\u2019s Assistant College Aptitude Test.<\/p>\n

Getting accepted means diving into four quarters of academic work at \u201cFort Sam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like freshman through senior if you will,\u201d Gamalski said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are tested on everything from microbiology, biochemistry, and anatomy and physiology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Students study cardiology, emergency medicine, nephrology, urology, \u201cand all your \u2018ologies,\u2019\u201d Gamalski said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would describe it like drinking water through a fire hose,\u2019\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly learning medicine and being tested on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second phase of the school involves 52 weeks of clinical work at an Army hospital.<\/p>\n

This brought Smith and Gamalski to Keller. That part of the course wrapped up in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great experience, a great education,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt was life-changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith will work in a medical\/surgical intensive care unit in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then drive to Binghamton to drill with the 204th Engineer Battalion.<\/p>\n

Gamalski, assigned to the 466th Area Medical Company in Queensbury, said his next goal is to become a flight surgeon.<\/p>\n

Then, he wants to work for a busy hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to continue that drink from the fire hose of mentality of learning medicine, doing medicine, so I can do better for the Guard and be better prepared for Guard deployments.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Army National Guard 1st Lts. Adrian Smith, left, and John Gamalski are administered the oath of office by Maj. Gen. Michel Natali, the assistant adjutant general, Army for the New York National Guard, at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point June 7, 2024. The two men were recognized for completing the Interservice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210196,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=210194"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210197,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210194\/revisions\/210197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/210196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=210194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=210194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=210194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}