Home Podcasts WarDocs - The Military Medicine Podcast
WarDocs - The Military Medicine Podcast

WarDocs - The Military Medicine Podcast

Doug Soderdahl, Wayne Causey 266 Episodes Aug 19, 2026

WarDocs is a podcast hosted by active duty and veteran military medicine professionals. It aims to honor the legacy and preserve the oral history of military medicine by sharing firsthand stories from healthcare heroes. The podcast covers unique opportunities, experiences, and contributions of military medical professionals across all services and ranks. Listeners gain insight into deployed environments, peacetime missions, and training for conflicts, as well as incredible stories of providing care in austere conditions worldwide.

Episodes

Techniques Interventional Radiologists Use to Stop Deadly Bleeding Without Ever Making an Incision- Dr. John Pavlus
Techniques Interventional Radiologists Use to Stop Deadly Bleeding Without Ever Making an Incision- Dr. John Pavlus Aug 19, 2026 2196     Bleeding is what kills people after injury. In this companion conversation to their earlier episode, host and vascular surgeon Dr. Wayne Causey asks Dr. John Pavlus, Chief of Interventional Radiology at Brooke Army Medical Center, to do the thing most medical conversations skip. He walks step by step through exactly how a bleeding trauma patient is treated without major surgery.   The tools ar
Expeditionary Interventional Radiology: Make the Case for Endovascular Care Forward on the Battlefield- Dr. John Pavlus and Dr. Jonathon Schutt
Expeditionary Interventional Radiology: Make the Case for Endovascular Care Forward on the Battlefield- Dr. John Pavlus and Dr. Jonathon Schutt Aug 12, 2026 3069     Bleeding is what kills people after trauma. That single fact sits at the center of this WarDocs episode, in which host Dr. Wayne Causey, a vascular surgeon, sits down with two military interventional radiologists — Dr. John Pavlus of Brooke Army Medical Center and Dr. Jonathon Schutt, an interventional radiology resident at Yale — to examine one of the fastest-moving areas in modern medicine a
Blood, Burns, and Autonomous En-Route Care: USAISR Commander, COL Shaun Brown, MD on the Research Keeping Wounded Soldiers Alive on Tomorrow's Battlefield
Blood, Burns, and Autonomous En-Route Care: USAISR Commander, COL Shaun Brown, MD on the Research Keeping Wounded Soldiers Alive on Tomorrow's Battlefield Aug 5, 2026 1386     What does it take to keep wounded Soldiers alive when the next war means hours — not minutes — to the operating table? In this special collaboration between WarDocs and OP MED TV, recorded at the Defense Strategies Institute OP MED Symposium, COL Shaun Brown, MD, Commander of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, lays out the research agenda that will decide whether the wounded of the
A Green Beret Medic’s Hard Truths: SFC(R) Luke Sciulli on Risk, Resilience, and Casualty Care at Scale
A Green Beret Medic’s Hard Truths: SFC(R) Luke Sciulli on Risk, Resilience, and Casualty Care at Scale Jul 22, 2026 2481 Episode Summary      On January 18, 2018, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Green Beret combat medic Luke Sciulli stopped being the medic and became the patient. A booby-trapped building collapsed on him during a personnel-recovery operation, fracturing his C4, C5, and C6 vertebrae, both scapulas, and his pelvis, and leaving him with a spinal cord injury at C5. In this episode of WarDocs, SFC(R) L
Inside Insights on the USUHS School of Medicine and HPSP with COL Danielle Holt, MD: What It Really Takes to Become a Military Physician.
Inside Insights on the USUHS School of Medicine and HPSP with COL Danielle Holt, MD: What It Really Takes to Become a Military Physician. Jul 8, 2026 3360 Episode Summary     What if a medical career could be built on profound purpose, paid for in full, and shaped by leadership opportunities no civilian path can match? In this episode of WarDocs, COL Danielle Holt, MD, an Army general surgeon and Associate Dean of Admissions and Recruitment at the Uniformed Services University (USU) School of Medicine, lays out exactly what it takes to become a mili
Face Fears, Build Confidence, Lead: CAPT (Ret) Kimberly Elenberg DNP RN on Growth and Innovation in Military Medicine and Beyond
Face Fears, Build Confidence, Lead: CAPT (Ret) Kimberly Elenberg DNP RN on Growth and Innovation in Military Medicine and Beyond Jun 24, 2026 3391     Few careers in military medicine trace an arc as wide as that of CAPT (Ret) Kimberly Elenberg, DNP, RN. In this episode she sits down with WarDocs to map a journey that began as an ROTC cadet who joined because she saw students rappelling down a building in Philadelphia, and that has since carried her from the bedside at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the role of principal investigator on
The Evolution of Combat Medicine and Preparing for Large-Scale Combat Operations-Army Deputy Surgeon General, BG Lance Raney, MD
The Evolution of Combat Medicine and Preparing for Large-Scale Combat Operations-Army Deputy Surgeon General, BG Lance Raney, MD Jun 10, 2026 3558    In this episode of WarDocs, Army Deputy Surgeon General Dr. Lance Raney discusses the past, present, and future of military medicine. The conversation begins with Dr. Raney’s early journey from a collegiate scholarship athlete to a Family Medicine physician, exploring how his clinical roots in "small-town" Army medicine established the decision-making framework necessary for high-level strateg
Trauma Czar Col Valerie Sams, MD on Skill Sustainment, Clinical Readiness, and Optimizing the Military Health System
Trauma Czar Col Valerie Sams, MD on Skill Sustainment, Clinical Readiness, and Optimizing the Military Health System May 27, 2026 3397 Col Valerie Sams, MD is an Air Force trauma surgeon, surgical critical care expert, and the Director of the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS) at the University of Cincinnati. Her path to the operating room was anything but ordinary.   Before medical school, she served as an Air Force line officer in logistics and fuels, learning how the operational side of the service
From Space to the Battlefield: Astronaut, Marine, and Physician Dr. David Hilmers on AI-Driven Tools, Innovation, and the Future of Combat Casualty Care.
From Space to the Battlefield: Astronaut, Marine, and Physician Dr. David Hilmers on AI-Driven Tools, Innovation, and the Future of Combat Casualty Care. May 13, 2026 2220    In this episode of WarDocs, Dr. David Hilmers, a retired Marine Colonel, four-time NASA Space Shuttle astronaut, and dual-trained physician in internal medicine and pediatrics offers a sweeping perspective on what it means to apply hard-won lessons from space exploration, global infectious disease response, and humanitarian medicine to the pressing challenges facing military medicine today.   
Why Academia, Industry, and Military Medicine Must Work Together to Win the Next War with Dr. Paul D. Biddinger
Why Academia, Industry, and Military Medicine Must Work Together to Win the Next War with Dr. Paul D. Biddinger May 6, 2026 2182       Dr. Paul D. Biddinger, Chief Preparedness and Continuity Officer at Mass General Brigham and one of the nation's foremost authorities on disaster medicine, joins WarDocs to deliver an unflinching assessment of the United States' readiness to manage mass battlefield casualties in a large-scale combat operations (LSCO) scenario.     Drawing on nearly 30 years as a practicing emergency physicia
From 18 Delta to Doctoral Degree: MSG(R) Jonathan Lu Shares Insights on Lifelong Learning and Bridging Military Experience with Academia.
From 18 Delta to Doctoral Degree: MSG(R) Jonathan Lu Shares Insights on Lifelong Learning and Bridging Military Experience with Academia. Apr 29, 2026 3004    In this episode, Master Sergeant (Retired) John Lu joins WarDocs to share his profound journey from a conventional Army medic to a Special Forces 18 Delta and ultimately a doctoral graduate. MSG(R) Lu’s narrative is a masterclass in professional evolution, highlighting how he pursued a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate while serving twenty years on active duty. He addresses the perceived barr
Shield and Ship: Lt Col Charisma Evangelista, MD, on Combat Ocular Trauma, Refractive Readiness, and Her Journey Becoming a Hero of Military Medicine
Shield and Ship: Lt Col Charisma Evangelista, MD, on Combat Ocular Trauma, Refractive Readiness, and Her Journey Becoming a Hero of Military Medicine Apr 8, 2026 2413   This episode of WarDocs features Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Dr. Charisma Evangelista, the Air Force’s leading voice on refractive surgery and an expert in ocular trauma. The conversation begins with her upbringing in the Philippines and her unique path to military medicine, driven by a desire for service and the supportive, collaborative culture she found at the Uniformed Services University.

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