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More than 300 U.S. military medical leaders, healthcare providers and civilian medical counterparts from across Europe, Africa and the continental United States took part in the 2024 Health and Readiness Symposium held Nov. 5–8 in Garmisch.
The primary focus of the symposium was on building excellence in healthcare, innovation, and readiness among U.S. military medical forces in Europe and Africa as well as enhancing readiness through quality patient outcomes and military population health.
The host for the three-day health and readiness symposium was U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Roger Giraud, commander of Medical Readiness Command, Europe, command surgeon for U.S. Army Europe and Africa and director of Defense Health Network Europe.
“The 2024 Health and Readiness Symposium facilitates best practices, interprofessional learning and helps build military readiness,” said Giraud. “It also enhances the knowledge, skills, and practices of our DOD military health care team.”
According to symposium planners, the event not only provided attendees the unique opportunity to share ideas, engage in professional dialogue and network, it also offered attendees the opportunity to obtain continuing medical education credits. Continuing medical education facilitates best practices, interprofessional learning, and military readiness. It also enhances the knowledge, skills, and practices of the military health care team.
“This symposium is really an investment in our people,” Giraud added. “This symposium ensures that our medical personnel receive the continuing education and training they need to deliver the best health care that our service members and their families deserve.”
In addition to fostering closer working relations and camaraderie, the symposium also provided attendees an opportunity to enhance their critical combat medical skills and life-saving techniques.
“As a joint medical force, we must always be focused on our wartime mission,” said Giraud. “This requires all our medical assets come together as one team. We must continue to focus on interoperable medical capabilities, not only among our joint U.S. medical forces, but we must also continue to collaborate with our allied partners. The integration of medical care starts right here, where our theater-based U.S. military medical forces plan, train and execute as a single team.”
According to senior military medical officials, supporting the warfighter and their mission is a top priority for Army medical leaders across the theater and area of operation.
“Symposiums like this are vital to ensuring that our military medical team remains ready and poised to perform their wartime mission when called upon to do so,” added Giraud. “This event assists in improving health care across Europe and Africa by helping us address and inform our people and our military treatment facility leadership about initiatives rolling out across the military health system this year to include a new care model which will leverage virtual health capabilities to help gain capacity in primary care, behavioral health, and some specialty services. Our U.S. service members, and their families, must have access to the very best medical care That is the end state of our military health system and that is non-negotiable.”
According to symposium planners, continuing medical education among the DOD healthcare team is vital to supporting military operations and ensuring success on the modern battlefield.
“More than 140 diverse readiness and healthcare delivery topics were covered during this health and readiness symposium,” said Giraud. “Among the topics covered were operational medicine, research, innovation disciplines, behavioral health, surgical services, and force health protection. As I mentioned earlier, symposiums like this are vital to ensuring our joint medical forces remain ready and poised to perform their wartime missions when they are called upon to do so.”
According to event planners, planning efforts are already underway for the 2025 Health and Readiness Symposium. The tentative dates are Nov. 3–7 2025.
