Medicine man -- bomb loader bites bullet, becomes doctor

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Leo Brown
  • 442nd Fighter Wing public affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  The tools of Doctor Scott Avery's trade include stethoscopes, ophthalmoscopes and otoscopes. The tools of Tech. Sgt. Scott Avery's trade include safety-wire pliers, 30-millimeter bullets and wrenches.

Sergeant Avery, a 42-year old resident of Lee's Summit, has lived a rare life since graduating from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in September. Now a doctor of osteopathic medicine, he has chosen, at least for the time being, to stay in his Air Force Reserve job as an aircraft armament systems specialist with the 442nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

He said he has no trouble trading in his doctor's white coat for a battle-dress uniform and sports a sense of humor about his medical and military work, noting there are more similarities in being a doctor and a weapons loader than one might think.

"The A-10 is like a human being in that each has different systems," he said. "A person has a cardio-vascular system, a skeletal system, and our planes have systems, too. When you give patients advice, they may or may not do it. There's a good chance they'll be non-compliant. But the airplanes don't complain and they're always here when you need them.

"If you make a mistake in medicine, you could kill a person," Sergeant Avery said. "It's the same thing here. If I do something wrong and a bomb doesn't drop, I can kill someone. You need to pay attention to detail. You have to look at serious situations as serious, and double- and triple-check things in surgery and here. One time in surgery, the surgeon was always asking me, 'Do you see anything? Do you see anything?' You have to count all the tools. You have to count all the bullets. If you're missing a rag or a tool, bad things can happen."

The ability to focus isn't something new to Sergeant Avery. His resume' boasts 260 graduate and 290 undergraduate credit hours from his medical school; as well as Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan.; Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and the Community College of the Air Force.

He said he's very proud of his academic accomplishments, but he's just as proud of his work for the Air Force Reserve. He said his military job is, in fact, something of a welcome relief.

"When you do medicine all the time, it's nice to have a break, to turn a wrench," he said. "There's nothing I'd rather do than come out here on a weekend and turn a wrench. Not because it's easy, but because it's different. I love working on the A-10. That's what it comes down to. I really enjoy it."

The sergeant, who deployed to Afghanistan from July to September of 2006, said his medical and military work have dovetailed nicely, as he has received nothing but support from co-workers, and he has been able to use each line of work to benefit the other.

"The support has been absolutely wonderful," he said. "It's really come from younger Airmen asking me how school's going and calling me 'doc.' It's really neat, because they're proud of me. A loader became a doctor and that makes me feel like a million bucks.

"Anybody can become a doctor," Sergeant Avery said. "I want all the young Airmen who join at 18 and who say, 'I'd love to be an officer, but I'm not smart enough' to not sell themselves short. You can be educated and be enlisted."

In addition to encouraging young troops to get the best education they can, Sergeant Avery said his Air Force Reserve membership has opened doors for him in the medical world.

"On rotations, I wear a miniature A-10 pin and that starts more conversations, almost always with veterans," he said. "One guy was 85 years old. He was a World War II vet. and an Army colonel. It doesn't matter what branch they're in, though. They love to talk about their military experiences and that develops a relationship."

Sergeant Avery's co-workers in each field said they have nothing but respect for his work ethic and for how much he cares about others.

"In school, Scott was very hard-working," said Dr. Kevin Punswick, D.O., who was a classmate with Sergeant Avery for two years in medical school. "He has a really neat story. He was working prior to medical school, so he was a non-traditional student. He went back to Johnson County Community College just to go to medical school. He was pretty relentless on getting in, and taking classes just to apply to medical school says something about his determination and motivation."

Doctor Punswick, now a second year family-medicine resident at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, said he heard nothing but good things about Sergeant Avery's work at Missouri hospitals after their classroom time was completed.

"I heard from other medical school students who rotated with him in Joplin and Kansas City that he did a really thorough and excellent job," Doctor Punswick said. "The neat thing about Scott is no one is a stranger. He's good with all ages. He was very good with not only youngsters, but also the elderly."

"He's pretty funny and he's always good to work with," said Senior Airman Heather Bax, who works with Sergeant Avery on a three-person weapons-loading crew. "He has a really good sense of humor, but if you need something important, he's there. He would literally give the shirt off his back to somebody.

"He'll be a good doctor because he pays attention to detail, he's really honest and he won't tell you what you want to hear," Airman Bax said.

"I love helping people," Sergeant Avery said. "Helping people is one of the greatest rewards a person can have. If you give others what they need, you'll get back more than you can imagine."

Doctor Avery said he has his sights set on being a flight surgeon someday. He admits there are many challenges to meet before that becomes a reality, including possibly completing a residency in 2008.

Until then, though, Sergeant Avery is quite content with life as it is now.
"I love my (reserve) job" he said. "I love the people I work with. I love the Air Force Reserve. It's an absolute privilege to be here."