Learning Opportunity

UNM Prehospital, Austere and Disaster Medicine Program Coordinator Accepted into Selective Emergence Program

Ever the challenge-seeker, Jake Debevec has always known he wanted to work in emergency medicine.

Starting the Monday after he graduated high school, Debevec began his Health Sciences Center career as an emergency patient services technician at The University of New Mexico Hospital. He now works as a program coordinator for the Division of Prehospital, Austere and Disaster Medicine within the UNM School of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine.

“Essentially, I support the operations that happen outside of the hospital walls,” he said, referring to organizations such as the International Mountain Medicine Center, the Center for Disaster Medicine, the Emergency Medical Direction Consortium and the Dr. George Kennedy Law Enforcement Operational Medical Center. “I think it’s pretty rare to find a place where the work that you get to do makes an impact that’s bigger than yourself.”

Thanks to a new opportunity, Debevec is preparing for his next challenge.

In January, Debevec learned he was one of 32 people (from more than 1,000 applicants) accepted into the Center for Homeland Defense and Security Emergence Program through the Naval Postgraduate School.

The program, which will run seven months, from July to January, was created for Homeland Security and public safety professionals who are in the first half of their careers. Debevec will participate in educational forums and sessions exploring emerging trends, including “social and political radicalization” and the “growing number and severity of natural disasters,” according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security website.