Building a War Ready Surgical Technologist through Local Military-Civilian Partnership

Air Force Surgical technologists (4N1) are a core part of an expeditionary surgical team. The comprehensive medical readiness program (CMRP) is designed to ensure surgical technologists have the necessary war-relevant skills. Due to declining surgical volume and acuity, Keesler Medical Center (KMC) developed a military-civilian partnership to address a shortfall in breadth and number of CMRP cases to maintain 4N1 war-relevant skills. This study provides the data-analytic pathway that led to the readiness remedy.

This was a retrospective analysis of operating room (OR) case logs at two adjacent hospitals over the calendar year 2025, Singing River Health System (SR) and KMC. The daily volume of CMRP preferred cases was compared.

Over the 365-day study period, KMC generated 271 qualifying CMRP cases, and SR generated 1,944. The within-day difference (SR minus KMC) was 4.58 ± 3.36 cases (Wilcoxon signed-rank, P < 0.001; paired t = 26.08, P < 0.001). KMC recorded zero cases in 2 categories during the study period (Cardiothoracic, Neurosurgery) and 1 in Vascular. SR recorded substantial volume in each: 269 Cardiothoracic, 288 Neurosurgery, and 64 Vascular cases. The distribution of cases across CMRP categories differed significantly between the 2 sites (χ2 = 353.5, df = 10, P < 0.001).

Leveraging a military-civilian partnership results in broader and more numerous CMRP cases, resulting in 4N1 sustaining war-relevant skills. This serves as a scalable model for other military facilities to establish and execute similar partnerships.