Motivation empowers mentorship.

"I've had fantastic mentors, both men and women," explained Lt. Col. (Dr.) Cristin Mount, the chief of Madigan Army Medical Center's Department of Medicine.

She leads a team of 320 civilian and military staff that conduct 180,000 outpatient visits and sees 3,800 inpatients annually.

"There is something to be said when you're a resident or junior staff to have somebody in leadership that you can more closely identify with."

Mount's sense of motivation and leadership earned her the honor of receiving the Military Health System Junior Army Female Physician Leadership Award.

She received the award in early December 2015, in San Antonio, Texas.

This is the second year in a row that a Madigan physician has received the award.

"Lt. Col. Mount has consistently demonstrated excellence as a leader across multiple domains throughout her career to include clinical leadership, administrative leadership, education and research," said Col. Jay Erickson, the deputy commander for medical services.

A self-described Army brat whose father is a retired Army physician, Mount is proud of the fact that she is a product of Army medicine.

"To be selected, that was really exciting and humbling at the same time," continued Mount, who is the first female chief of her department.

The award recognizes her contributions to military medicine and work as a mentor to young physicians.

"If you get an award like this, you don't get to pat yourself on the back and go off into the sunset.  You look for ways that you can continue to positively influence the work environment more than you did before."

Others have noticed Mount's attitude to create and sustain the positive in the universe of medical care.

Erickson also pointed out that Mount is well known for her medical research advances, making her "one of the most respected educators and mentors of resident physicians at Madigan."

"She has actually mentored more residency research projects than any other faculty in the department," added Lt. Col. Patricia Short, the Internal Medicine Service residency program director and last year's recipient of the Junior Army Female Physician Leadership Award.

Mount said that the award recognizes the need for more female mentors in their career fields.

She also explained that while more women than men currently graduate from medical school, there is a lack of female mentorship all the way through the chain of command.

"Mentorship is a highlighting of the attributes we look for in physicians and leaders."

With the Army traditionally comprised of more male than female soldiers, Mount thinks it is even more important for women to be able to identify mentors.

That mentorship, she said, starts with women in leadership roles recognizing themselves as mentors, even if there are not formally put into that position.

"I think we provide exceptional care here at Madigan, and I think a part of the award is a recognition of Madigan and what it provides to the community," concluded Mount.