More than 363 Military Health Care Providers to Graduate on Armed Forces Day

Bethesda, Md. – The director of the Defense Health Agency, Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, will address more than 360 uniformed and civilian health professionals on May 20, Armed Forces Day, as they receive their medical, graduate nursing and dental, biomedical science, public health, and clinical psychology degrees from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), the nation’s only federal health sciences university.  

The commencement ceremony will take place at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

Crosland, a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health degree graduate of USU, is responsible for leading a joint, integrated Combat Support Agency of nearly 140,000 military and civilian personnel that enables the Army, Navy, and Air Force medical services to provide a medically-ready force to Combatant Commands in times of both peace and war. Throughout her career, she has served in a number of leadership roles, including Senior Medical Officer for the Office of the Surgeon General, Commanding General of the Regional Health Command-Atlantic, and most recently as the U.S. Army’s Deputy Surgeon General and Deputy Commanding General (Operations) of the Army Medical Command. Crosland is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, USU, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. She earned a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University Eisenhower School. 

During USU’s commencement exercise on Saturday, students will enter DAR Constitution Hall to “Pomp and Circumstance” performed by “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Corps Band. The graduates are a mix of military and civilian students. The uniformed students are active duty officers in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Public Health Service, and for the first time ever, Coast Guard. Military medical students will walk across the stage wearing their academic regalia, and after receiving their diplomas, will leave the stage and change into their military uniforms. They will return to recite their respective Service commissioning oath, led individually by each service Surgeon General or his/her representative, and will then be promoted to the next rank. 

Graduates from USU’s F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine will include 165 Doctor of Medicine degrees, 55 master’s degrees in biomedical sciences and public health, 20 Doctor of Philosophy degrees, and one Doctor of Public Health degree. USU’s Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing will confer 50 Doctor of Nursing Practices degrees, and two Master of Science in Nursing degrees. USU’s Postgraduate Dental College will confer 71 Master of Science in Oral Biology degrees. In a separate ceremony to be held in the near future, USU’s College of Allied Health Sciences will confer 763 Associate of Science in Health Sciences degrees and 148 Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degrees to enlisted military service members.  

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About the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the nation’s federal health sciences university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. USU also has graduate programs in oral biology, biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research. The University’s research program covers a wide range of areas important to both the military and public health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.