Naval Hospital residents graduate

Friday morning was the end of three "very busy" years for Lt. Ryan Arnold.

Arnold was one of six family physicians and six interns who graduated at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital's Camp Lejeune Family Medicine Residency Graduation Ceremony.

"It's exciting to finally be done. It's been a long three years. I'm looking forward to moving on," Arnold said.

While Arnold's next stop is with the Marine Special Operations Command, Lt. Shari Buzolich will be joining 2nd Marine Logistics Group and Lt. Tyra Francis will be staying on staff at the Naval Hospital. Lt. Kelly Larson will move on to Naval Health Clinic in Corpus Christi, Texas; Lt. Cmdr. Emori Moore will go to Naval Branch Healthcare Clinic in Groton, Conn.; and Lt. Cmdr. Browyn P. Richards will be stationed at the Naval Health Clinic in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Four intern graduates - Lt. Stephanie Elenbaum, Lt. Wendy Gordon, Lt. Megan Sick and Cmdr. James Stasiak - will remain at Camp Lejeune to complete their residency. Lt. Sean Driscoll will continue on to flight surgery training, while Lt. Jason Gordon will train in undersea medicine.

Friday was a "day of celebration," said Cmdr. Steven Kewish, director of the Camp Lejeune Family Medicine Residency program.

"The residency classes get stronger every year," Kewish said, explaining that this year's class was the strongest yet. "They're going to go out and serve the Navy and Marine Corps and they're going to do great things."

This was the sixth year of the program at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital.

While looking forward to moving on, Arnold, who was the chief resident, also knows that life after graduation will be a bit different.

And not only because he'll be changing his uniform.

"I won't be delivering any children but deploying will be the biggest change, and I'll be on my own," he said. "There's not going to be anyone for me to turn around and bounce a question off of. ... Working without a net will be the most different part."

Contact Amanda Hickey at 910-219-8461 or ahickey@freedomenc.com. Read the Lejeune Deployed blog at http://lejeunedeployed.freedomblogging.com.