Andrew Headrick says that he likes to understand the tangible value tied to a path before pursuing it. It’s that idea that led Headrick, 28, to enlist as a combat medic in the U.S. Army after graduating from Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind., and later, to pursue medical school at UAB, where he’s now a fourth-year student working toward a dual M.D./MPH degree.
“When I graduated high school, the military was a very interesting option to me, and when it came to picking a job placement in the Army, I thought it was natural to be a medic because my mom is a nurse,” he said.
Headrick completed basic training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. before heading to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, the home of army medicine, for initial combat medic training. He said that during training, he built up a pride about the skills he was learning. Deciding he wanted more experience, he sought a deployment in which he could put those skills into action.
“As I got to the end of training, I asked myself what the point would be and who I would be helping if it all wasn’t put into action,” he said. “I’m of the mind that if you’re here, it’s probably for a reason. I wanted to be able to put in practice those skills instilled in me, although I later realized that I still had a lot more to learn to be capable of helping in the most appropriate manner.”
In 2009, he deployed with the 2nd of the 151st Infantry, which spent the next year in Khost Province, Afghanistan carrying out a police mentoring and training mission. He realized quickly that the basic EMT training did nothing to prepare him for the ambulatory and day-to-day problems (like foot and back pain, or trouble sleeping) the 100 other soldiers on the base approached him with regularly. “I was constantly finding myself using the limited Internet available on the outpost to look up solutions,” he said.
“There’s one incident that really sticks out in my mind that further illustrated how ill-prepared I was, albeit in more aspects than that only pertinent to my fund of medical knowledge. A fellow solider—his name was Staff Sergeant Alex French-- traveling in a vehicle in the convoy ahead of mine was hit with a vehicle-born IED. We responded to help at the scene and, along with the medicine from that convoy, I got to work,” Headrick said. While the other soldiers affected by the blast were able to be evacuated with lesser injuries, Staff Sergeant French was less fortunate.
“Looking back on that situation now, I realize there was little more we could do. For some time, I carried the sentiment that if perhaps I had just known more, maybe we could have saved him. It was the first time I had seen a fellow soldier pass, and I struggled mightily. I confided in some fellow soldiers—veterans of past deployments—and they helped me to understand that we must learn what we can from each such instances, but we couldn’t dwell or become consumed because our mission was not yet complete.”
Shortly after, a new physician arrived on the base—a doctor who was willing to take Headrick and the other medical personnel under his wing and teach them at every opportunity.
“He encouraged me that if I had this hunger for knowledge, I should pursue it. When the deployment ended, I arrived back stateside with this in mind. I knew I had the ability, tools and resources available to become a physician, so I took them and started the journey that has brought me to where I am today.”
| “(My mentor) encouraged me that if I had this hunger for knowledge, I should pursue it. When the deployment ended, I arrived back stateside with this in mind. I knew I had the ability, tools and resources available to become a physician, so I took them and started the journey that has brought me to where I am today.” |
He said he likes the nurturing environment of pediatrics, coming to that decision based on experiences with mentors he had during his third year on the Tuscaloosa Regional Campus: Dr. Karen Burgess, Dr. Heather Taylor and Dr. Ashley Evans. The three, he said, were “the consummate definition of role models” of what he could be as a physician, sharing their wisdom in medical knowledge, professionalism and compassion.
Headrick said that compassion has helped him connect and build relationships with patients. Favorite memories he recalled from his third year were quiet ones, like helping an 11-year-old’s family members better understand the drivers behind her asthma exacerbation and relieving their stress by answering all their questions. Or using his fluency in Spanish to talk with a Latino family on an obstetrics rotation, explaining the steps they should follow in obtaining their new baby’s birth certificate and other follow-up care.
“Medicine is a more holistic practice than simply providing medical treatment, certainly much more than I ever could have expected. You have so many different ways you can come into someone’s life and help them, because it’s not just that they’re sick—there are a lot of additional issues and stress, at both the individual and family level, that come with illness,” Headrick said. “Patients allot you this immediate trust and confidence that they would never allow with anyone else they only just met. Suffice to say, my experiences in medical school have superceded my imagination of what a career in medicine can truly entail.”