NMLPDC Holds Global Military Tropical Medicine Course

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Heath Zeigler

Naval Medical Leader & Professional Development Command

During July 2024, Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command (NMLPDC) held the
annual 4-week in-person Military Tropical Medicine (MTM) didactic course for 43 students at the
Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. The didactic phase of the course was immediately
followed by a 2-week hands-on field experience for 92 students throughout eight tropical infectious
disease endemic locations around the globe during August 2024.

The MTM course, offered as in-person and online, provides tri-service military medical providers with
didactic content and hands-on field experiences to diagnose, treat and prevent infectious diseases to
protect the Joint Force against tropical endemic health threats and provide healthcare to partner
nations during global health engagement missions.

“We often don’t receive this content in medical school or graduate medical education programs,” said
Capt. Todd Gleason, MC, USN, MTM course director. “Our student body is [tri-service] nurses,
physicians, lab technicians, pathology residents and aerospace medicine residents and we are able to
discuss the power that we bring to the team.”

Select students who completed the MTM course (in-person or online) had a follow-on opportunity to
engage with host nation military medical ships, hospitals, laboratories, and various healthcare
professionals during 2-week field experiences in Brazil, Thailand, Liberia, Peru, Ghana, India, Honduras,
and Tanzania to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to work on the ground in austere tropical
environments.

Capt. Katie Shobe, MSC, USN, NMLPDC Commanding Officer, had an opportunity to visit one of the field
training sites. “I participated in the mission to Peru, where we conducted several exercises in Lima and
Tumbes, including cultural familiarization, visiting the Lima Peruvian Naval Hospital (Centro Medico
Naval, or CEMENA) and their patients, Naval Medical Research Unit-SOUTH to learn about their mission
and projects in the AOR, learning to conduct surveillance with mosquitoes, cysticercosis in pigs, small
mammal trapping and baiting, and rodent necropsy. “

In addition to the classroom and field experiences, Capt. Gleeson and his fellow MTM course team
members, LCDR Tupur Husain, MSC, USN, HM1 Danielle Spivey, USN, HM1 Michael Boateng, and HM1
Jayden Ryan, USN administered an online asynchronous MTM course from August 2023 to June 2024 for
287 students, which greatly expanded course access to military medical providers who cannot attend
the in-person option.

“I came away with profound gratitude and appreciation for what our NMLPDC MTM team does,
including coordinating with our partner organizations in the 8 OCONUS locations,” said Shobe. “An
immense amount of work goes into the 4 weeks of coursework and labs. Bravo Zulu to the MTM Team!”

Continuing on the momentum of the highly successful in-person, virtual, and field exercises this year,
the MTM staff will hold the following upcoming course options over the next year for tri-service medical
providers: Online-Asynchronous course (September 2024 to June 2025), in-person course (July 7 to
August 1, 2025 in Bethesda, MD), and field missions (1 August to 17 August, 2025) in Ghana, Brazil,
India, Peru, Liberia, Honduras, Tanzania, and Thailand.

Interested tri-service medical providers can visit the CAC enabled NMLPDC course site for additional
MTM course information at:
https://obiwan2.health.mil/sites/nmfsc/apps/ACR/SitePages/courseInfo.aspx or via email:
usn.bethesda.navmedleadprodevcmd.list.nmlpdc-mtm@health.mil

Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command (NMLPDC) is the cornerstone of Navy
Medicine’s leader and professional development supporting Force Generation and Development of the
Naval and Joint Forces. NMLPDC is a tenant command located at Naval Support Activity, Bethesda, MD.