The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center recently was honored with a plaque from the Special Forces to honor the school’s dedication and support of the Special Operations Combat Medic (SOCM) program.
VCU is one of the two sites in America that has a program where Special Operations medics come to have their first clinical experience. The other site is in Tampa, Fla.
Trainees of SOCM program rotate through various areas within the hospital including the Emergency Department and Burn Unit for two weeks, while integrating hands-on assignments and academic lessons.
“After training, soldiers may possibly be deployed within 30 days of arriving to their units, and this is why the program at VCU is so greatly important to our soldiers and our nation,” said Army Master Sgt. Danny Yakel, program administrator for the Richmond, SOCM program and senior instructor at the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center (JSOMTC) at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
According to Yakel, some of the medics that are not going to go on to be Green Beret medics will leave the VCU Medical Center and return to Fort Bragg for about a week and a half of additional medical training. Following that, they will return to their units and possibly be in a combat theatre within 30 days of arrival.