Army Maj. Steve Hong, Physician Award honoree for annual AMSUS awards. (Courtesy photo.)
Barr praised Hong as an “outstanding and innovative provider [who] showed his absolute dedication to duty by helping to design the CAMIC, the only FDA Emergency Use Authorized product to provide an extra layer of barrier protection to prevent the exposure of airborne particulates to healthcare providers as they are caring for patients.” Hong, who has been tapped for promotion to lieutenant colonel in the coming months, received the award virtually with family members joining from individual locations.
Hong’s presence at the awards ceremony was unwittingly jeopardized when he deleted the notification email, mistakenly thinking the request for personal information was a phishing attempt. It was only after a member of [his] command and someone from the Army Surgeon General’s office contacted him that Hong figured it was likely not a scam. When his wife got wind of the award from a co-worker she shared the news on social media with the rest of the family.
“The award is great recognition, but I think it really speaks more for my department, the institution, and my teammates than for myself,” Hong stated. I have been fortunate enough to realize that things don’t just happen in a vacuum or due to one singular individual, he added. But can be dependent on “environment, luck, and timing of certain opportunities.”
The physician furthered, “I am driven by this insatiable curiosity and desire to lean forward in providing the best and latest technologies for medical care for our patients and wounded warriors.” In fact, Hong is already developing his next project, integrating machine learning and neural networks into tele-surgical robots. “This will allow surgeons…to control semi-autonomous surgical robots out on the battlefield, [in support of] humanitarian crises, [or] in outer space, demonstrating to the world once again that military medicine is at the tip of the spear in terms of innovation.”
The AMSUS Awards are held annually to recognize federal healthcare professionals from the three military service branches;, U.S. Public Health Service; Uniformed Services University ; and departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and the. Despite moving to a virtual platform this year, six AMSUS awardees were lauded for their significant accomplishments which had a meaningful impact on their organization, their mission and military healthcare.