05/08/2026
Throwback to 2003. Naval Hospital Portsmouth, Virginia.
[Note: paper charts!]
I was a resident. The sailor to my right had asked me to preside over her reenlistment, the ceremony where he would pledge four more years of service. You invite an officer you admire. I did not take that lightly then, and I do not take it lightly now.
The discipline that shaped me in those years, the commitment to showing up, staying sharp, investing in your own capacity to serve, is the same foundation I bring to medicine. Sustainable health is not a trend. It is a practice. I learned that in uniform.