DogFaceMedic said:
We need a thread on real bad OERs.
I have seen many so-called real OER stories such as "this officer deprived a village of its idiot." "His men would follow him but only out of morbid curiosity." But I doubt their veracity. So, share OER comments you have really seen. No one is obligated to admit it was of themselves.
Here are some of mine:
After I stood up in 1999 as Medical Director of Anesthesia to oppose independent practice of CRNAs at Travis, which led to the permanent brain damage of an active duty NCO, I embarrassed the Squadron Commander. He was good buddies with his USAFA and USUHS classmate, my Flight Commander, who got fired for dereliction of duty (among other things) for not enforcing good order and discipline within the Anesthesia Flight. The Command did not like that I had tried, as Medical Director, to enforce medical direction of anesthesia care (vs. nursing direction of same). Thus, this functionally-illiterate ex-pilot O-6 Squadron Commander had the following added to my OPR in his section:
"Mentoring necessary to assure appropriate team building; his growth has always improved group effort."
Translation: Needs to shut his pie hole and let patients die in a politically-correct fashion, so that his superiors don't get scrutinized for their criminal negligence in failing to prevent independent (mal)practice by pushy non-physicians in contravention of Medical Group Instructions and Air Force Instructions.
"Uncompromising officer with much to learn and offer; anticipate great strides with new challenges."
Translation: "Much to Learn" about shutting the f*** up and not making waves in an environment where what counts is making rank and saving face, not patient safety.
In 2001, I received a career-ending Letter of Reprimand (LOR) for saving the life of a nine year old child in a way that embarrassed the Command, which had to admit that the former "Medical Center" could not handle pediatric trauma cases *at all*. Subsequently, I expressed my concerns to a vascular surgeon with a tragic record of death/brain damage after carotid endarterectomies that everything had to be done "by the book" for his VIP patient in order to avoid an adverse outcome. He whined to his surgeon buddy, my ex-Navigator, USAFA and USUHS-grad Squadron Commander, a pinheaded, clinically-rusty, pointy-haired tyrant, who gave me a SECOND LOR for trying to look out for my patients. This O-6 tyrant then coerced my spineless Flight Commander, who was coasting on her way to retirement, to write the following in _her_ section of my OPR (to cover up his rank reprisal against me for making him look bad to his superiors, and for initiating an IG complaint against him for such reprisal):
"Rater Overall Assessment:
--Skilled physician blah blah
--Technological wizard blah blah
--Outstanding instructor blah blah
--Mission-oriented volunteer (for deployment shirked onto me by my Flight Commander so she could stay home to celebrate her twins' birthday)
--Prized consultant blah blah
--Undermined mission; made public, disparaging remarks concerning quality of care issues & repeat episode of inappropriate documentation of quality assurance information in patient chart; confident will not recur
--Talented anesthesiologist with impressive technical and pedagogical skills; valuable asset to medical center"
So, here were my cardinal sins: I wrote the truth in a patient's chart, and I spoke the truth to a surgeon colleague equal in rank to myself. For these sins, my career in the USAF was ruined. The IG complaint went nowhere: the IG system is set up specifically to cover the @$$es of high ranking officers, while hosing the poor, lower-ranking schmucks beneath them (cf. Abu Ghraib, USAFA evangelism, etc.).
It doesn't matter that I had 10 years of flawless OPRs before the first bad one, and 3 years of flawless OPRs after the second bad one. In the military, you are not allowed even one bad OPR bullet...even if it should be clear to the casual observer that you weren't caught driving drunk or raping enlisted women, but rather that you were caught standing up for integrity and patient safety as a board-certified specialist physician. Either one of the two adverse bullets above would have been enough to black-ball me forever from making O-6...which is reason number 731 why I left the USAF Medical Corps(e) after 19 years total active duty, resigned my Regular Commission as a LtCol, and walked away from all retirement pay and benefits.
Any poor medical student who has signed his or her life away to the military already should remember this: You will only get in trouble when you stand up to do the right thing. If you sit down, shut the f*** up, and let patients die, you will probably make General. Sleeping pills and alcohol may (may) help with the guilt-induced insomnia; just remember to take them separately, until the very last time. Sweet dreams.
--
R. Carlton (Rob) Jones, M.D.
Ex-LtCol, USAF, MC
Ex-Medical Director of Anesthesia, Travis AFB, CA
Ex-Assistant Chief Anesthesiologist, Andrews AFB, MD
OEF Anesthesiologist, 39th EMEDS, Incirlik AB, Turkey (2002)
Harvard '85 (ROTC Det. 365); USUHS '90; WHMC Anesthesiology '94
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