11/10/2023
In honor of Veterans Week, we recognize Captain David Good, DNP, CRNA, Assistant Professor in our Midwestern University Nurse Anesthesia Program. He currently serves in the United States Public Health Service, balancing teaching students with active-duty obligations and deployments. https://ow.ly/JkpJ50Q6af5
Q. Why did you choose to serve, and how did that influence your journey into healthcare?
I grew up in an extremely underserved area. The USPHS’ mission is to care for the underserved and vulnerable populations. This mission is originally what drew me to the service. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall, I saw how the USPHS was involved in caring for disaster victims, and it gave me another reason to join. Through the USPHS, I have been able to deploy to almost every major healthcare disaster since 2005.
How does MWU support active service members and veterans?
MWU has been extremely supportive of my service. The University has provided a schedule that accommodates my active-duty obligations and deployments. In addition, the experience and knowledge I gained at MWU is carried over to my job as a clinician with the USPHS. In a sense, MWU’s support is bettering the lives of the vulnerable patients I serve as an Officer.
Q. What do you hope students learn from your classes?
Student nurse anesthetists have the tendency to separate information into distinct and separate topics. In other words, they learn anatomy as one topic separate from biochemistry, and biochemistry as a separate topic from pharmacology. In my classes, I hope to bridge each student’s knowledge of these topics with the bigger picture in mind and then teach them how to apply that in the clinical setting.
We can’t control every outcome in healthcare. However, if we commit ourselves to evidence-based practice, we can reduce the number of poor outcomes.