SPRINGFIELD-BECKLEY AIR GUARD STATION, Ohio -- Emergency rooms are often chaotic. Nurses and doctors rush from room to room to provide patient care in a noisy, fast paced environment.
For Lt. Col. Gary Katz, a flight surgeon assigned to the 178th Medical Group, the emergency room is his calling.
Katz attended medical school at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, Ohio in June of 1998. From there he completed his residency in emergency medicine in Akron, Ohio.
“I’ve always had an appreciation for the practice, the art of medicine and caring for patients,” said Katz.
After practicing in hospitals for over a decade as a civilian and managing a national emergency medicine staffing group, Katz decided to open up his own ER staffing agency.
“I have recently started up my own ER staffing company” said Katz. ”I have a group of ER doctors that go to the hospitals and we work by contract in their emergency departments to staff their ERs.”
Although the daily tasks of being an emergency room doctor and flight surgeon are different, Katz is able to use the leadership he has gained in the civilian sector to help enrich his military career.
“I think that there are various aspects of leadership that do cross over very relevantly into a military career and military medicine,” said Katz. “Investing and helping the Airmen and other officers grow as leaders so that they can make the organization more effective is a skill that I’ve been able to bring from the civilian world into the military.”
Katz’s innovative attitude exemplifies the diversity of the U.S. military that gives it a strategic advantage in achieving mission success.