This past #SOMSA19 (Special Operations Medical Association Scientific Assembly 2019) was particularly special and nostalgic to me… After years of background service, SOFsono has earned its own slot and prime time at the most important SpecOps medical conference worldwide. I was truly humbled by the outpouring of unanimously positive feedback and supportive reactions. That “Ma’am – you knocked it out of the park” really stuck with me. Yet one big shoutout in particular has actually brought tears to my eyes. Oh yes, ladies do cry 🙂 A huge compliment to “Kasia, a lady from Poland” coming from the SOF community. JJ and doc Rush on PJ Medcast took me a little bit by surprise!
[Listen to PJ Medcast ultrasound discussion]
Yes, I was born and raised in Poland, and I could not be more proud of my roots. It’s a little hard to translate, but we have this really cool saying: “where the devil can’t get things done, there he sends a woman“. And therefore it shouldn’t even surprise anyone that a non-operator non-military lady from Poland can make some waves in the ocean of U.S. SOF medicine! 😉
As I like to say: a SOF Medic without ultrasound is like a sniper without a scope. And this could not be more true when facing the tyranny of distance in prolonged field care. Now, I have to agree that knowledge of anatomy and physiology is key to your practice of medicine. In fact, you shouldn’t even scan if you don’t know the anatomy! However, no other tool out there rivals ultrasonography when it comes to enhancing your comprehension of the basics, i.e. anatomy and physiology.
In case you didn’t know such a super important fact 😉 – Polish women share this genetically determined passion for medical imaging in military medicine! Once upon time a Polish lady and a Noble-Prize winner, Maria Skłodowska-Curie, took it upon herself to bring “radiological cars” to the battlefields of World War I. She taught radiology courses together with her daughter Irene, a future Nobel Prize winner herself.
With that being said, I could not be more proud to announce that SOFsono is becoming a SOFisticatED mother-daughter special operations team! Livia is quite a visionary ultrasound educator already, who has taught plenty of courses with me. Some of you have met her in Charlotte, and ATMA folks have shamelessly plotted to steal her for their conference next year 😉
She is about to start her very own medical journey at one of the oldest European universities, namely the Jagiellonian University School of Medicine in Poland! They’ve been teaching medical students out there only for the past 655 years, so I am sure you would agree they must know how to get the job done!
Look for our future joint contributions on this blog, social media and in the JSOM, notably a ladies-run powerhouse of SOF medicine itself! Moving forward we plan to transform SOFsono into your support hub for SOF-geared training resources. Now it will be on you to kick butt and take some names in SOF ultrasound education! It’s that concept of empowerment brought to us by Maniek, a Polish SOF operator from GROM, this year’s recipient of SOMA International SOF Medic of the Year award!
Feeling eternally grateful for the inspiration and sharing of knowledge, from the further sidelines of non-SOF support,
If you have any questions, concerns or educational needs, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!
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