SURGEON STATIONED IN IRAQ
SENDS JOURNAL AND PHOTOS TO ASSOCIATES
(Peoria)
Dr. Paul W. Sutherland, Jr., a Board Certified surgeon, recently sent a journal and photos to his associates at Mid Illini Surgical Associates (MISA). A Colonel with the U.S. Army Reserves, Dr. Sutherland left his practice to mend soldiers and insurgents after being deployed last March.
Dr. Sutherland chooses to stay active in the Army Reserves and feels that providing his surgical talent and expertise is necessary for our forces and the people of Iraq. Mobilized for six months and expected to return this November, Dr. Sutherland is assigned to the Forward Surgical Team located in Iraq. He now performs surgery at a 300-bed hospital unit.
A general surgeon with special interest in thoracic surgery, Dr. Sutherland is also an Advanced Trauma Life Support Instructor, Advanced Burn Life Support Instructor and Trauma Director at Methodist Medical Center of Illinois. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois in Chicago and is certified by the American Board of Surgery.
Surgeon heeds call to serve his country once more. Doctor will leave practice temporarily to mend soldiers, insurgents
BY DAYNA R. BROWN OF THE JOURNAL STAR
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Reprinted with permission of the Peoria Journal Star.
PEORIA - Anytime someone leaves a job for the military, co-workers have to step in and help. But they usually don't have to operate on patients.
Dr. Paul Sutherland is temporarily leaving his surgical practice to serve his country. A colonel in the Army reserves, Sutherland is being deployed next week for a six-month stint in Iraq.
Once in the Middle East, Sutherland, 55, of Mid Illini Surgical Associates, based in Peoria, expects to be assigned to a "forward surgical team" and will work in a 300-bed hospital.
"Our job is to go out with the troops and provide immediate resuscitation and stabilization for injured soldiers, Iraqi troops and insurgents," said Sutherland of Dunlap.
This will be the third time Sutherland has been shipped overseas since joining the Army reserves 15 years ago.
"It was the desire to serve my country and the desire to provide quality care for the service members" that led Sutherland to join up, he said. "During Vietnam, I was going to college and med school, so I had deferments. This is a desire to pay back. There was no financial commitment; it was emotional."
Sutherland knew he was likely to be deployed; it was just a matter of when, and on Feb. 21, he received his orders. Since then, he has been wrapping things up and preparing his patients for his departure.
"People have been very, very supportive of it. Certainly they don't want to see me leave, but without a doubt they understand," he said.
The military is generally short of surgeons, which is why Sutherland has decided to stay active. But leaving his patients is hard because it "puts a burden on the rest of the practice." Plus, Sutherland admits being concerned about safety.
"We are going in harm's way," he said.
Sutherland's 30-year-old son Sean is a captain in the Air Force and stationed in Germany. His wife isn't happy they both will be deployed, Sutherland said. "She understands that it is a commitment that both Sean and I have made,and she supports us. But she is understandably apprehensive and the last few days, very definitely sad," he said. In addition to being a general-practice surgeon, Sutherland, also is an advanced trauma life-support instructor, advanced burn life-support instructor and trauma director at Methodist Medical Center.
He is scheduled to return in November, but he said there is "really small print" on his orders that states his stay could be extended.
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