BETHESDA, MD—It was two years ago that Ira Katz, MD, PhD, then chief of VA’s mental health services, told researchers at the VISN 20 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) in Portland, OR, that they should begin focusing some of their research on TBI.

BETHESDA, MD—For a handful of military mental health providers on the front lines, treating combat stress and trauma is an everyday occurrence. The military has begun to realize that the advice and care they furnish can often prevent acute battlefield trauma from becoming a chronic stateside problem.

BETHESDA, MD—Women comprise nearly 20-percent of the military. Many women, like their male counterparts, return from combat traumatized by the events they experienced.

WASHINGTON, DC—A holistic approach to care makes the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) unique in how it treats servicemembers with psychological issues.

WASHINGTON, DC—DoD health officials will increase the number of servicemembers and their families it helps quit smoking.

Opinion poll:
Should the DoD set a date for a tobacco-free military? Please read the article about DoD expanding smoking cessation efforts and participate in the online poll.

BETHESDA, MD—“Combat injury is not an event. It’s a process.” Those words, spoken by Stephen Cozza, MD, associate director of the USUHS Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, could have been taken as the central theme of DCoE’s Trauma Spectrum Conference held last month on the campus of NIH. The conference has focused attention for the last three years on the effects of combat trauma not only on the soldier, but also on their spouses, children, friends, and society as a whole.

WASHINGTON, DC—A new Army medicine initiative is aiming to give military families better access to healthcare. Seventeen new off-base Army primary care clinics are being built off of the military installation, allowing those families of soldiers who had challenges in getting access to care at busy installations to be able to get it off post.

Virtual Reality in Burn Pain Management

Sponsor: United States Army Institute of Surgical Research

WASHINGTON, DC—Veterans and servicemembers may be able to help each other overcome stigma in seeking psychological help, officials said during a webinar on combating stigma in the military hosted by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE).

WASHINGTON, DC—DoD is in the midst of deploying a tool that will automate recordkeeping for anesthesiologists.