{"id":27233,"date":"2026-03-09T23:41:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/medex\/?p=27233"},"modified":"2026-03-11T18:23:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:23:22","slug":"chapter-eight-the-birth-of-medex-northwest-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/medex\/magazine\/2026\/03\/09\/chapter-eight-the-birth-of-medex-northwest-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Eight: The Birth of MEDEX Northwest, Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
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Multiply My Hands: <\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Life of Dr. Richard Smith<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

__________<\/span><\/h1>\n

Chapter Eight: <\/span><\/h3>\n

The Birth of MEDEX Northwest, Part Two<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/h1>\n

Written by Erik Steen with Jim Wehmeyer<\/span><\/h1>\n

Edited by Melanee Nelson<\/span><\/h2>\n

MEDEX Northwest Communications<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n
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Selecting the First Class<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Seattle\u00a01969\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seated with the newly formed MEDEX Northwest team under the insistent fluorescent lights of a small conference room, Richard Smith stared at the stack of applications on the table before him. Eighty men had responded to their outreach at military installations across the country. Eighty veterans were looking to translate their battlefield medical skills into civilian careers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So many lives, so many stories, <\/span><\/i>Smith thought. How do we choose? After all, these fifteen will define this new profession.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Okay, we\u00a0need to be systematic about this,” Smith told the team. “Four primary criteria: medical training and battlefield experience, of course, but equally important are adaptability to civilian practice and community integration potential, especially in communities facing physician shortages.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ray\u00a0Vath nodded. “And we need to screen for judgment. Can they recognize their limits? Will they resist portraying themselves as doctors? Can they develop\u00a0an appropriate professional\u00a0identity?”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vath\u00a0picked up\u00a0an\u00a0application\u00a0from the\u00a0top of the pile\u00a0and studied\u00a0the photo of a young corpsman with a serious expression and close-cropped hair. Three tours in Vietnam.\u00a0Bronze Star with\u00a0valor. Extensive experience in field trauma care.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“The technical skills aren’t the issue,” Smith said to Vath\u00a0from\u00a0across the table where he sat reviewing another file.\u00a0“Most of these men have performed procedures that would make a third-year medical student faint.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vath\u00a0agreed.\u00a0“The question is:\u00a0Which ones can adapt to civilian practice?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Who among them\u00a0can handle\u00a0working within a structured healthcare system rather than independently in the\u00a0field?”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Richard Smith and his MEDEX admin team working through applications for the inaugural class of MEDEX Northwest.[Richard Smith Archives]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smith tapped his pen against the table, thinking. “And which ones can integrate into these small communities?\u00a0That’s just as crucial.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“I\u2019m finding myself\u00a0gravitating\u00a0toward the Special Forces corpsmen,”\u00a0said\u00a0Vath, picking up another application file. “They’ve had the best training and\u00a0performed\u00a0the most independent medical work, often behind enemy lines in the mountains of Vietnam.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“They’re also the most creative,” Smith added. “When you’re miles from support with limited supplies, you learn to solve problems in unconventional ways. That’s exactly the mindset rural providers need.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0selection\u00a0process\u00a0the\u00a0team had\u00a0devised was unlike anything previously used in healthcare recruitment. Drawing on Smith’s Peace Corps experience with group assessment methods, they created an intensive weekend event at a motel in Renton, Washington, bringing together MEDEX candidates, preceptor physicians, and their\u00a0spouses.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“The Peace Corps learned through hard experience that traditional interviews and credentials are poor predictors of success in challenging field positions,” Smith explained to his team as they prepared. “We need to observe these men not just in formal interviews, but in social settings, under stress, and interacting with each other.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith also brought a sophisticated understanding of what he called “social investment behavior” to the selection process. His work\u00a0leading the desegregation of the nation\u2019s\u00a0hospitals\u00a0and\u00a0working\u00a0with the Peace Corps had taught him that successful social change required all participants to feel invested in the outcome. The selection weekend was designed not just to evaluate candidates but to begin creating those investments among everyone involved.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\t

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