This year, members of the ESS took part in the first Joint Military Civilian Partnership (JMCP) Summit, held in Bethesda, Maryland, May 5–6. Organized by the MCP Working Group, the summit brought together leaders from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Health Affairs, and the Defense Health Agency, alongside representatives from more than 20 partnered civilian centers. The event focused on sharing policy updates, exchanging lessons learned, and aligning partnerships with operational readiness to ensure a strong return on investment—both now and in the future.
Jonathan Woodson, MD, MSS, FACS, president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, opened the summit with a keynote address. He highlighted the critical role of partnerships in sustaining readiness, not only for individual military providers but also in bolstering national disaster response through the National Disaster Medical System.
Throughout the summit, partners from across the country shared insights on topics such as tracking clinical experience for providers, nurses, and medics; establishing offices for military-civilian integration; and embedding active duty personnel in partner programs. Captain Matthew Tadlock, MD, FACS, USN, ESS president, led a dedicated session spotlighting the wide range of partnership models—from fully embedded physicians or surgical teams to enlisted-only just-in-time training, rotating surgical teams, and rotating special operations medics at regular intervals—demonstrating that while implementation may vary, all efforts aim to improve combat casualty care.
An important panel, “Integrating General Surgeons into Your Trauma Program,” featured representatives from the Air Force’s Centers for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (CSTARS) in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as the Navy’s Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System embedded in Chicago, Illinois. Most forward surgical Role II capabilities across the services have general surgeons on their teams. These surgeons embedded in trauma-specific MCPs need to be ready for a combat casualty care mission, but also need to maintain their general surgery skillset. Panelists emphasized the critical role of general surgeons in trauma teams, while highlighting the value of emergency general surgery and elective clinical opportunities for maintaining both deployment readiness and surgical proficiency as general surgeons.
Immediate ESS Past-President Colonel Jennifer Gurney, MD, FACS, Chief of the Joint Trauma System (JTS), emphasized the necessity of a globally integrated approach to trauma care, highlighting how partnerships are instrumental to that vision. Colonel (Retired) Brian Eastridge, MD, FACS, US Army, Medical Director of the ACS Military Health System Strategic Partnership, discussed applying similar systems-level approaches at national and regional levels through integrated military and civilian efforts. Colonel Sarady Tan, MD, representing Health Affairs, provided a timely update on the MISSION ZERO Act, which offers federal funding opportunities to sustain qualifying military-civilian partnerships. This initiative helps ensure continuous access to trauma care while maintaining provider readiness.
The summit laid the foundation for a growing community of partnerships united by a shared mission. By mentoring newer sites and speaking with a unified voice, these collaborations can advance military medical readiness and national disaster preparedness. The MCP Working Group is developing sustainable strategies to build on these lessons, with plans to make this an annual event and establish touchpoints throughout the year. We encourage continued engagement from across the community to sustain this momentum and strengthen our shared mission.
If you have questions about this event or regarding military-civilian partnerships, contact Colonel Ryan Earnest, MD, FACS, MC, USAF at ryan.e.earnest.mil@health.mil.
