JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD - Dr. (Maj.) Jason R. Bingham, chief of general surgery at Madigan Army Medical Center here, was recently selected to receive the 2021-2022 Rising Star Award from the Society of Federal Health Professionals, known as AMSUS.

Bingham joins a select group of Army Medical Corps officers who will be honored at the 2022 AMSUS annual meeting.

The AMSUS virtual annual meeting will be hosted Feb. 22-25. This year's theme is, "Healthcare Transformation Starts with Medical Education and Training."

AMSUS annually honors the contributions of outstanding federal health care professionals through its distinguished awards program. AMSUS is recognized as the only conference where federal health leadership and professionals unite in sharing news of innovative medical advances, superior practices in patient care, and results of collaborative efforts.

"I am honored and humbled to receive this award," said Bingham, expressing gratitude for the support he receives from his colleagues and partners, and the residents who motivate him to keep going.

"I feel privileged to have had very innovative and dedicated mentors during my training," Bingham said. "It is truly humbling and motivating to come to work every day with such a talented crew."

The Rising Star Award is one of three AMSUS Premier Awards that are nominated by the AMSUS Executive Advisory Council, including the Innovator Award and Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award is presented to health care professionals who early in their career have demonstrated success in federal health care delivery or management, placing them on an ascending path to an executive leadership role.

To win these awards, an individual must demonstrate excellence and achievement in their initial assignments and have one to five years of health care leadership experience.

Nominees must also meet one or more of the following criteria: outstanding work and professional activities in healthcare or administration; development of notable innovations on the job; active participation in health care organization, association, and leadership programs; and/or promoting the value of health care professionals.

There are 15 competitive AMSUS awards, including seven that comprise the Individual Professional Awards category and five in the Functional Mission Awards category.

Nominations for these awards are open to federal health care workers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, U.S. Public Health Service, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and the Uniformed Services University.

Representing the Army, Bingham has demonstrated his worthiness of this distinction through his performance and sustained excellence as an accomplished surgeon and scientist.

Bingham, commissioned in 2007, started his medical career at the Uniformed Services University, followed by his surgical residency and surgical training at Madigan.

Bingham then joined the teaching faculty at Madigan, where he currently serves as the Chief of General Surgery. He has also served as a medical student site director, associate program director, and director of Surgical Research.

As the director of Surgical Research, Bingham oversaw 12 active protocols with the primary focus of his research being advancements in far-forward surgical care, hemorrhage control, and battlefield resuscitation.

His career also includes two combat deployments as a surgeon assigned to the 772nd Forward Surgical Team supporting special operations in Syria in 2017; in 2019, he served on an operational deployment to Sinai, Egypt, as the team leader of the Sinai Damage Control Surgery Team. He served as the chief medical officer of the 946th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Team in West Africa in 2021.

"I became a general surgeon because I thought they were the most competent, well-rounded and useful people in the hospital when I was a medical student. I like being useful," said Bingham, sharing the words of Aristotle. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."

As a "Rising Star" in Army Medicine, Bingham has garnered praise from senior leaders, including his former training director at the University of North Carolina, who nominated Bingham for the award.

"Maj. Bingham's unparalleled achievements in clinical practice, research, and leadership in the last two years at Madigan are worthy of this recognition. Beyond his excellence as a clinician who performs technically complex surgery, he distinguishes himself through his steadfast dedication to the advancement of Army surgery," said Col. Matthew J. Eckert, Director, UNC Chapel Hill Military-Civilian Partnership, Joint Medical Unit.

"Whether it be through his mentorship and development of students and residents, or his leadership of the premier surgical research team within the DOD...he is truly a rising star of military medicine and worthy of this tremendous honor," Eckert said.

"Always leading by example, he was selected as the chief of Madigan general surgery despite being the most junior candidate," Eckert added. "His leadership, dedication, compassion and humility stand out even among the most talented and accomplished military medical officers."