Col Linda Lawrence Oral History

title:

Col Linda Lawrence Oral History

creator:

Lawrence, Linda L. (1963 October 5 - )

subject:

Air Force | AF Medical Corps

description:

Colonel (Dr.) Linda Lawrence was born in Toledo, on October 5, 1963. She decided to become a doctor after getting knee surgery as an adolescent. She attended Wittenberg University in Ohio, majoring in biology and graduating in 1984 after three years by taking summer classes. She attended Ohio State medical school for one year before transferring with her future husband to Temple University Medical School. In her third year of medical school, she applied to the US Air Force with an intent to specialize in pediatrics since she was advised against pursuing emergency medicine. She did her internship and residency at Geissinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania and did a rotation in emergency medicine, which she enjoyed so much she changed her specialty to it. She didn’t enjoy her residency since the men she worked with were dismissive and rude to her, but the nursing staff supported her. Once she became Board Certified in Emergency Care, she was sent to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. She was there for two years and then went to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences as faculty. She enjoyed this experience and, considering the benefits the Air Force offered to pregnant women compared to civilian hospitals, she decided to continue her assignment for 2 more years. She had two children while stationed at the University, and she found that the military system didn’t hold her back at all for those pregnancies but some of her colleagues resented and criticized her pregnancy-related absences. Her next assignment was as a Flight Commander at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and ran the emergency department for four years. While there, she still advised prospective and current women students the University. At the end of her time at Andrews, she was selected to become the Commandant of the Uniformed Health Services University, the first woman and first USAF doctor in this position. She was in this position for three years and in her last year, she was promoted to full bird Colonel and then assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California as the Chief of Medicine at the Hospital and General Taylor’s Consultant for Emergency Medicine. As of the interview, she was in this position and on the Board of American College Emergency Physicians. She volunteered for deployment in Operation Northern Watch in Turkey in 2000 at a mobile field surgery hospital. She served in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom. Lawrence was still in the service as of the interview, and at that point she had reached the rank of colonel and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Bellafaire, Judy

date:

2006-02-05

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

547; 2006.547

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

588497

coverage:

Gulf War | 1984-interview

rights:

Unrestricted