Braceland Recap

The 2007 Braceland Seminar was an excellent day of 13 presentations in a grand venue with 45 psychiatrists in attendance.

CAPT Bill Nash led off the 2007 Braceland Seminar with a comprehensive review of combat stress, past and present, with indications of future trends and treatments. CAPT Bob Koffman followed with a discussion of BUMED's Combat Operational Stress Control program and efforts to establish a combat stress Center of Excellence in San Diego. CAPT Koffman started off by noting that the only attendees in uniform were CAPT Garsha and himself, and that might be explained by the fact that they were the two in attendance from BUMED. I remarked to the psychiatrist sitting next to me that it might be explained by the fact that there were two attendees who weren't reading their email.

The coffee ran out before the first break was over. Note to the future: order 1 gallon of coffee for every eight people and round up. We had four gallons of coffee, and we could have consumed six gallons. A gallon of Starbucks goes for about $100.

After the break CAPT Robert Alonso spoke on the Seabee community's warrior transition program. Next was CDR Paul Hammer, who gave an authoritative presentation on Marine Corps combat stress treatment and a system to address redeployment issues he put in place. The morning ended with a tag-team presentation by LCDR Bob Marietta and LCDR RD Dipp about innovative ideas they have implemented to treatment combat stress among III MEF Marines on Okinawa.

Lunch was teriyaki-glazed chicken breast accompanied by saffron orzo and broccoli. Not exactly what I ordered from the hotel's catering department, but it was good. CAPT Warren Klam pronounced it the best meal he had ever had at the Braceland. Dessert was a lemon tart which was so rich that most people couldn't finish it. COL Cam Ritchie joined us for lunch, which made it a joint event. I spoke at the end of lunch. I noted that two psychiatrists recently selected to the rank of Captain were in attendance, and I asked CDR Gail Manos and CDR Paul Hammer to rise to the applause of those seated. As I am wont to do, I told a couple of sea stories along the way, one of which caused the audience to assume that CDR Hammer had spent time in the brig, which of course is not true and was completely unintended on my part. I did manage to blurt out with some degree of dignity that CAPT Brian Smullen was the recipient of the Sears Award this year, despite the three days he spent in the brig many years ago, a fact I admit I deleted from his award-winning bio.

CAPT Klam keynoted the afternoon presentation with a review of where we stand as a community. I missed his talk because I was trying to get the hotel to fix a plumbing problem in the men's room, but people told me that the figure that stuck in their heads was 68 percent manning, but you never know what statistics really mean. I put CAPT Klam on the schedule after lunch, because I thought that he might have bad news, and bad news always goes down easier after a sugary lemon tart. LCDR Rob McLay went next with information about the virtual reality study he conducts as a treatment for combat stress. The afternoon break followed.

Maybe I should have had everyone do jumping jacks during the break, because when CAPT Doug Knittel kicked off the resident's portion of the program with his excellent presentation on the physics of blast injuries and resulting brain trauma, several people nodded off. Maybe it was his hypnotic voice, but I prefer to blame it on the lemon tart. LT Jeremy Francis delivered a case report on a rare mitochondrial disease that presented as anorexia nervosa. Then LT Jeff Millegan got our attention by giving an excellent, tight summary of his study of fathers' deployment as a risk factor for post-partum depression in mothers. Not to increase Jeff's swagger, but his 20 minute talk was near flawless, and the audience applauded as soon as he concluded, even before questions. LCDR Susan Harvey, chief resident at San Diego, enlightened the audience with her presentation on two patients with combat-related PTSD she treated with acupuncture. LT Dieter Schelzig, chief resident at Portsmouth closed the seminar with his erudite review of a case of Addison's disease masquerading as mania.

We had a great time at a memorable event.