On Veterans Day

I wanted to share something that I worked on over the summer when I was fortunate enough to take a course from Prof William J. Winslade, author of Confronting Traumatic Brain Injury: Devastation, Hope, and Healing (Yale Univ. Press 1998).

In a previous life, I was a pre-med undergrad and got an early start in the healthcare field volunteering and working at a Florida VAMC. For various reasons, I quickly narrowed my interests to psychiatry & pathology and at about the same time the VA also established the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I learned a lot about the condition back then, but, at the risk of disappointing my family, I opted not to pursue a medical career.

When I had the opportunity to take Prof Winslade's class on Law, Ethics, and Brain Policy this past summer, though, I couldn't resist incorporating that past experience into a short article I wrote about PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) affecting military personnel, which I called "WOTS Next: The War on Terror Syndrome." I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I am making the article available here in case my brief summary and the resources in the endnotes might help a veteran or someone caring for a veteran.

I know I will never forget the sacrifices those VA patients made, as have so many other veterans, so that a first generation Arab-American woman like myself could pursue her dreams, whatever they may be. This Tech Law Geek will always remember she's in their debt.

Thank you and God bless