On December 10, 2023, Vice Adm. Michael L. Cowan, the 34th Surgeon General of the Navy died. He was 78.
Vice Adm. Cowan served in a wide-variety of clinical, operational, staff and leadership positions over the course of his 33-year career. His career culminated in 2001 with his selection as the 34th Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy and Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED).
Cowans career legacy includes pioneering the concept of Force Health Protection, redefining deployable medicine in the 21st century, and serving as the Navy Surgeon General during the attacks on September 11th, 2001, and the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It could be stated that medicine was always in the sights of the Fort Morgan, Colorado native. Following pre-med at the University of Colorado at Boulder and after attending medical school at the Washington University School of Medicine, Cowan went to Temple University to study internal medicine and hematology under his mentor Dr. Sol Sherry (1907-1983). Sherry was already a medical giant whose research led to the development of clot-dissolving drugs to treat heart attacks. Cowan envisioned following in Sherrys footsteps and spending his career in academic medicine, but all that would change in 1971 when he was drafted into service.
At the time I was a free spirit, related Cowan. My hair was too long, and I could have put it into a ponytail. I had the attitude that most people had in 1971 about the militaryI was very anti-war, anti-military. I really knew nothing about the military, and everything I thought I knew was wrong.
Although he entered the Navy, as he later jokingly remarked, kicking and screaming, he was soon hooked. While serving as a general medical officer at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, N.C., Cowan learned the important role the Navy played in supporting the Marines. I particularly took pride that I was taking care of these young men and women who were serving their country, said Cowan. And it felt good as a physician to know that I didnt have to worry about their insurance. The phrase I always used was, I didnt have to ask them how sick they could afford to be. My job was just to take care of them to the best of my ability, and my paycheck didnt depend on anything else.
Camp Lejeune would remain a special place for Cowan throughout his career. Just over twenty years after entering the Navy, while serving as the Commanding Officer of Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune (1993-1996), he was selected for flag rank.
In 1972, Cowan continued his residency in internal medicine followed by a hematology/oncology fellowship at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, Maryland. It was at Bethesda that his love for Navy Medicine was born, and his decision to stay in the Navy was made.
I was at a change of command ceremony at Bethesda, and as the band started playing the march, as the flags came in, I got a tingle, recalled Cowan. As we were standing at attention in front of the flags about to witness this time-honored, old military ceremony, the hair on the back of my neck went up and I thought, Okay, thats it, thats the answer to my friends question as to why I stay in. The hair on the back of my neck goes up and Im reminded of what this is all about.
Over the ensuing years, Cowans love for the Navy and his role as, he described it, a physician-leader continued to grow. He served as Chief, Internal Medicine, at Naval Hospital Rota, Spain (1975-1976), and Chief of Clinical Investigations for the Navy Malaria Vaccine Research Program at the Naval Medical Research Institute (forerunner of todays Naval Medical Research Command) (1979-1982).
In 1982, Cowan was selected by Dr. Jay Sanford (1928-1996), president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland, to serve as the schools Deputy Director of Operational and Emergency Medicine in the Department of Military Medicine. In this position, Cowan taught the military medicine course and led fourth-year medical students through the Bushmaster exercise. It was a role that would leave an indelible mark on hundreds of future military physicians.
In Bushmaster, we wanted to push people to their limits in a controlled way, explained Cowan. It was a leadership lab that tested what people are really made of when they are really tired and frustrated and just dont think they can do it anymore. Over time we learned how to push people to grow, but in the early days we didnt know how far to push.
On one of his earliest Bushmasters, Cowan, Dr. Sanford, and his team of instructors, started a drill at eleven oclock at night after the students had had a long day. We simulated an attack on the camp with boomers and machinegun fire, recalled Cowan. They were supposed to respond, but they didnt come out.
Cowans team then threw several tear gas canisters around the tent. But still no response. Dr. Sanford slowly walked over, picked up the tent flap, kicked a tear gas canister under the tent flap and walked to the observation area. Still nothing. Cowan and Sanford then turned to each other and at that point knew they had overworked the students and called it a day. The students had just had it, so they had put their gas masks on, pulled their sleeping bags up over themselves the best they could, and just stayed there, recalled Cowan. They slept in their gas masks.
One of his students forever impacted by Cowan and the Bushmaster was Vice Adm. (ret.) C. Forrest Faison III, the 38th Surgeon General of the Navy and a USUHS graduate.
I dreaded this course all four years [at USUHS], recalled Faison. Over the next two weeks we started running back-to-back mass casualty, and combat scenarios. Youre doing this around the clock, and youre exhausted. Then comes the main event, which is a main mass casualty drill where they wrap it all together, and were so sleep deprived. Its hot, its muddy, and its just nasty. And we get through the scenario and were doing a hot wash, and Admiral Cowan gets up there and he goes, Youre cold, youre wet, youre tired, youre hungry. So why do you do it? You do it because that guy on the stretcher is depending on you to do it. And his family back home are depending on you to do it. And its the right thing to do.
Cowans time leading the Bushmaster would follow him throughout his career, even to distant places around the globe. While serving as Task Force Surgeon, Operation Restore Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia (1992-1993), Cowan recalled that many of his former students were serving as medical officers in Marine units and as command surgeons. I was able to delegate far more and had far more confidence in the abilities of these folks than I ever would have if they never had that field experience.
It was in Somalia that Cowan also recognized the unique values of each service, a piece of knowledge that would later serve him well as Joint Staff Surgeon (1997-1999); Chief of Staff, Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, The Pentagon (1999-2000); and Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, TRICARE Management Activity (2000-2001).
Cowan took the helm as the 34th Surgeon General of the Navy in August 2001. He was on the job for just 30 days when the attacks on September 11th occurred. Instantly, the world had changed, and Navy Medicines course would forever be altered to meet the new challenges ahead. He recalled, On September 11th, I walked to my desk about 10:30 in the morning and threw [my priorities] in the trash can. Priorities had just changed.
Within 24-hours of the attack Cowan updated the Navy Medicines motto from Standing by to assist to Steaming to assist and deployed the hospital ship USNS Comfort to New York City where it served as a relief valve for the rescue workers.
Primary care and physical therapy and messmen and general duty hospital corpsmen boarded he Comfort, and they steamed up to New York, related Cowan. While there they provided up to 1,000 people a day [with] hot meals, a shower, a berth, and laundry service. So, youd go aboard, theyd take your dirty laundry, feed you, put you to bed, give you a shower, wake you up, give you your clean clothes back, or new clothes, and send you back to work. We took criticism for that. There were people who thought that that was an undignified mission for a war ship of the United States Navy and I shouldnt have done that.
Yet, it had a positive impact.
A year later, while attending a reception for exercise BALTIC OPERATIONS (BALTOPS 22), he walked over to a group of Navy messman to congratulate them on doing a nice job. As we were talking and laughing, I said, By the way, how many of you were on the Comfort last year? And most of the hands went up, said Cowan. And this one kid, a 22-year old, kept trying to put his hand up and the others kept slapping him down, good naturedly. He said, I was on the Comfort in New York, but I wasnt crew. I was a New York City fireman. After seeing what the Navy did in New York I was so impressed that I joined the Navy under the condition that I become a messman assigned to the Comfort.
Admiral Cowan was a soft-spoken, caring, and impactful leader who always saw the bigger picture and thought outside the box, said Rear Adm. Darin Via, the 40th Navy Surgeon General. He was way ahead of his time and Navy Medicine is stronger because if him.
One of Vice Adm. Cowans greatest legacies was a humble leadership and his trust of others. This is captured when describing his philosophy of service:
I think a big part of my philosophy was formed by a phrase my dad used to use that I really glommed onto. He said, Your life finds you far more often than you find your life, stated Cowan. Had I not been drafted I never would have come into the military. I would have been an academic, probably stayed at Temple [University] . . . That would have been my life, and I would have been very happy. But this detour happened, and it became a better life, one that I would have never sought after and the direction of that detour I would have never sought out. My whole life found me almost against my will.
So, when people, young officers in particular, ask me, Can you give me some career advice? I say, I will, but its not going to be very good. What Im going to tell you youve got to take with a grain of salt. I tell them, Just dont worry about it. The one thing you must do in life is to do your job. No matter what job youve got, do the hell out of it and then position yourself to try to get jobs you enjoy doing. If you enjoy a job, youll do it well; if you dont enjoy your work, then life isnt worth living.
Admiral Cowan was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Linda, and son Dr. Mark Cowan, both passing earlier this year.
References:
See original here:
- From residency to leadership: the evolution of internal medicine [PODCAST] - Kevin MD - October 13th, 2024 [October 13th, 2024]
- Internal Medicine residency launched at MUSC Health Florence Medical Center - Medical University of South Carolina - October 2nd, 2024 [October 2nd, 2024]
- Statesville Internal Medicine Moving to Bryant Street - Iredell Health System - September 15th, 2024 [September 15th, 2024]
- Medical students honor Internal Medicine faculty, fellows they aspire to emulate - UT Southwestern - September 15th, 2024 [September 15th, 2024]
- Grants Awarded to the Department of Internal Medicine (September 2024) - Yale School of Medicine - September 15th, 2024 [September 15th, 2024]
- Yale Internal Medicine Reflects on Past 10 Years in New Report - Yale School of Medicine - September 15th, 2024 [September 15th, 2024]
- Meet ABIMs new leader: The future is bright for internal medicine - Medical Economics - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Should neonatal-perinatal medicine move to two-year fellowships? | Journal of Perinatology - Nature.com - June 9th, 2024 [June 9th, 2024]
- Vigorous exercise may preserve cognition in high-risk patients with hypertension - EurekAlert - June 9th, 2024 [June 9th, 2024]
- Studying the effects of probiotics for idiopathic epilepsy - DVM 360 - June 9th, 2024 [June 9th, 2024]
- Pride Celebrated at UConn Health - UConn Today - University of Connecticut - June 9th, 2024 [June 9th, 2024]
- Residents and Faculty Shine at Internal Medicine Annual Meeting - Washington State University - June 1st, 2024 [June 1st, 2024]
- Opinion | Smoking Isn't the Only Source of Nicotine Addiction in Town - Medpage Today - June 1st, 2024 [June 1st, 2024]
- Benefis gets approval for Internal Medicine residency program - KRTV NEWS Great Falls - June 1st, 2024 [June 1st, 2024]
- A Mother's Encouragement and a Husband-Wife Doctor Team Set the Stage for a Career in Hematologic Oncology - The ASCO Post - June 1st, 2024 [June 1st, 2024]
- Local doctor to share new lifestyle health techniques with Longboaters - Your Observer - June 1st, 2024 [June 1st, 2024]
- Marquis Who's Who Honors H. Kenneth Fisher, MD, for Expertise in Medicine - 24-7 Press Release - June 1st, 2024 [June 1st, 2024]
- Clinical Score Predicts Recovery From Dialysis Dependent Acute Kidney Injury - MedicalResearch.com - June 1st, 2024 [June 1st, 2024]
- Interdisciplinary Curriculum Boosts Women's Health and Gender-Affirming Care in Internal Medicine Residency - Yale School of Medicine - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- David Jerome Becker Obituary - - Hartford Courant - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- Med students earn awards as part of Cape Fear Research Symposium - News | Campbell University - Campbell University News - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- Rowan University graduate inspired to pursue internal medicine after cancer journey - CBS Philly - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- UChicago Medicine residents unionize in landslide election | Evening Digest | hpherald.com - Hyde Park Herald - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- McKee Names New Head of Health, 5th Director in Three Years - GoLocalProv - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- An Internal Medicine Physician & Aesthetic Specialist's Best Tips | mindbodygreen - mindbodygreen - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- Health-related quality of life assessment tool for cats with hyperthyroidism - DVM 360 - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- Finding the Right Approach to Treating Asthma < Yale School of Medicine - Yale School of Medicine - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- Stigmatizing Language Common in Clinical Notes for Patients With SUD - Medpage Today - May 12th, 2024 [May 12th, 2024]
- Patrick Hemming, MD: Depression, Anxiety Treatment by the Internal Medicine Physician - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- UConn Health's Dr. Rebecca Andrews Takes on New National Role - UConn Today - University of Connecticut - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Women are less likely to die when treated by female doctors, study suggests - Yahoo! Voices - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Are female doctors the key to keeping patients alive longer? - - Study Finds - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH: Discussing Treatment Approaches for Patients with Obesity - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Prolonged Medical Fasting May Benefit Pain Symptoms in Fibromyalgia - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Discussing Ways to Approach Improving Obesity Care with Melanie Jay, MD - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Timothy Wilt, MD, MPH: Discussing Colorectal Cancer Screening Options Recommended by ACP - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- 'Sluggish' Hospital Uptake of Newer Antibiotics for Gram-Negative Infections - Medpage Today - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Elizabeth Cerceo, MD, on How to Address Health Care's Impact on Climate Change - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Melanie Jay, MD: Advancing Equitable Approaches to Improve Obesity Care - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- American College of Physicians issues clinical recommendations for newer pharmacological treatments of adults with ... - InvestorsObserver - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Scientists unveil new remote-controlled 'pillbot' a microrobot that you can swallow for early disease detection - Good Good Good - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- What We Would Be If We Weren't Doctors - Medpage Today - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Dual-Tasking: Spotlighting the Impacts on Individuals with Dementia - MD Magazine - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- Here Are The Suggestions Of Internal Medicine Specialist Doctors So That The Body Is Healthy After Eid - VOI English - April 23rd, 2024 [April 23rd, 2024]
- New Professors in the Department of Internal Medicine - Yale School of Medicine - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Nephrologist Choudhry now part of GGH team | Health | fltimes.com - Finger Lakes Times - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Department of Internal Medicine Grand Rounds - The University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- McLaren Port Huron to launch internal medicine resident physician program - The Times Herald - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Implementation and Evaluation of a Pilot Narrative Medicine Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residents - Cureus - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Facing doctor shortage, BayCare to train hundreds more in Tampa Bay - Tampa Bay Times - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- NYU Langone Health in the NewsThursday, February 1, 2024 - NYU Langone Health - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Dr. Ben Gallagher Receives SGIM Northeast Region's Award for Excellence in Clinician Education - Yale School of Medicine - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Tulsa Doctor Shares 7 Steps To A Healthier Heart - News On 6 - February 4th, 2024 [February 4th, 2024]
- Perceptions of X+Y Scheduling Among Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Trainees: A Qualitative ... - Cureus - January 27th, 2024 [January 27th, 2024]
- Taskforce works to end racialized differences in medical education and practice - Wayne State University - January 27th, 2024 [January 27th, 2024]
- Toms River Internal Medicine Specialist, Dr. Prabhat Sinha Awarded As NJ Top Doc - EIN News - January 27th, 2024 [January 27th, 2024]
- Against Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Physicians Letter to His Legislator - Word on Fire - January 27th, 2024 [January 27th, 2024]
- Medical Mystery Case: What Landed This Pregnant Woman in the Hospital? - Medpage Today - January 8th, 2024 [January 8th, 2024]
- NYU Langone Health in the NewsWednesday, December 27, 2023 - NYU Langone Health - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Internal Medicine Specialist Discusses Weight-Loss Medication - News On 6 - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Adoption of Internal Medicine Milestone Ratings and Changes in Bias Against Black, Latino, and Asian Internal ... - Annals of Internal Medicine - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Beebe welcomes award-winning infectious disease specialist - CapeGazette.com - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- People rally around doctor who refused to provide medical assistance on flight for a valid reason - Upworthy - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Adventist Health Tillamook welcomes new top Internal Medicine Provider - Tillamook Headlight-Herald - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Perceived Preparedness of Internal Medicine Interns for Residency and the Value of Transition to Residency Courses - Cureus - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Enhancing the Comprehensive Integration of General Medicine Education in Rural Japan: A Thematic Analysis - Cureus - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- James Murray named head doctor at Confluence Health - Source ONE News - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- The Analysis of Job Satisfaction of Health Practitioners in Saudi Arabia: Determinants and Strategic Recommendations ... - Cureus - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Top docs of 2023and what it takes to be one - MD Linx - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Another Medical Society Turns Up the Heat on MOC - Medpage Today - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- SMH Addiction and Internal Medicine Clinic caring for the whole ... - Sheridan Media - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- Irene Chernova is the 2023 Dostanic Award Recipient - Yale School of Medicine - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- Sanders, HBCU medical schools in Atlanta to talk health care diversity - The Atlanta Journal Constitution - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- Capital Area Health Consortium Honors UConn Health Nurse ... - University of Connecticut - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi could cost Medicare up to $5 billion per year, study estimates - CNBC - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- The COVID 'emergency' is over. Should I relax precautions or still ... - NPR - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- Liu Wins ASCI Emerging-Generation Award < Internal Medicine - Yale School of Medicine - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- QC Kinetix (Summerville) Offers a Variety of Regenerative Medicine Therapies in Summerville, SC - Yahoo Finance - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- Heavy drinking poses even greater risk for one in three Americans - Keck Medicine of USC - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]
- M. Beverly Hosten Dorsey, M.D. Obituary - Press & Sun-Bulletin - Pressconnects - May 13th, 2023 [May 13th, 2023]