Navy Medicine inspires future medical professionals during first visit to Navajo Technical University

Story by BUMED PAO

U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

Navy Medicine Sailors visited Navajo Technical University (NTU), the largest tribal college or university in the country, for the first time to discuss U.S. Navy mission and career opportunities with students and leadership during Albuquerque Navy Week, Sept. 13.

The Navy Medicine-led visit enabled University of New Mexico (UNM) alums Capt. Shauna O’Sullivan and Cmdr. Jessica McNulty, assigned to the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED), along with Navy Talent and Acquisition Group (NTAG) Phoenix, to engage with administrators, faculty, students, and veterans at NTU as part of a community outreach initiative. O’Sullivan graduated from UNM in 1998 and was the recipient of a Naval Health Professions Scholarship and attended medical school at Kansas City University. McNulty was a graduate of UNM’s Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program 2003. Both went on to have distinguished careers in the Navy.

“It was the U.S. Navy’s first visit to the campus, and we received a warm reception,” explained O’Sullivan, a rheumatologist and Navy Medical Corps career planner at BUMED. “The faculty and students were polite and receptive to conversations about the opportunities available in the Navy. Several parents were visiting with their children and were open to discussions about the Navy’s offerings.”

NTU is the first university established on the Navajo Nation and encompasses five campus locations across land in New Mexico, Arizonia, and Utah. NTU honors Diné culture and languages, while educating for the future, and is one of the premier institutions of higher education in the nation, providing a unique balance between science and technology and culture and tradition.

“The opportunity to speak to the faculty and students at Navajo Technical University about the amazing opportunities to be of service and save lives in Navy Medicine was extraordinary,” observed Cmdr. Jessica McNulty, director of public affairs and outreach and a special assistant to the Navy Surgeon General and chief, BUMED. “These students have so much potential, and the United States Navy has so much to offer them.”

The team also had the opportunity to meet Chef Robert Witte, a Navy veteran and the director of the NTU Culinary Arts Program. Over the course of 25 years of service to the university, he’s grown the program from three students to more than 150 per cohort.

“Without a doubt, the Navy is the best thing I’ve ever done,” expressed Witte as he discussed his six-years of service as a culinary specialist in the Navy and post-Navy career.

While at the university, O’Sullivan and McNulty were asked by Hoskie Kee, commander of Baca/Prewitt Chapter Veterans Organization and Eastern Agency, to say a few words at a special event honoring Navajo Nation veterans, where 31 organizations from across New Mexico provided information and resources to veterans in attendance.

“I was humbled and honored to be invited to speak to the Navajo Nation Veterans Administration Eastern Agency Stand Down, hosted by NTU,” said McNulty. “The Navajo Nation’s Code Talkers helped America win during WWII; they’ve not forgotten their service, nor have I. The Navajo Veterans represent what’s best in America – the willingness to sacrifice oneself for the greater good.”

The team also had an opportunity to meet with Dr. Delores Becenti, NTU’s director of enrollment, and one of the most tenured professors in the university, where she spoke of her passion for Navajo Nation and expanding opportunities for collaboration.

“NTU is an ideal place for the Navy to cultivate relationships,” concluded O’Sullivan. “The campus has a real sense of community and military tradition. My visit and experience in Navajo Nation was an amazing finale to Albuquerque Navy Week.”

Navy Weeks are a series of outreach events coordinated by the Navy Office of Community Outreach designed to give Americans an opportunity to learn about the Navy, its people, and its importance to national security and prosperity. Since 2005, the Navy Week program has served as the Navy’s flagship outreach effort into areas of the country without a significant Navy presence, providing the public a firsthand look at why the Navy matters to cities like Albuquerque.

Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.