Major Emily Buck, M.D., FAAFP, Medical Corps

The most impactful instructor I had at USMA was my DAC and mentor from the GEO department, Dr. Marie Johnson. Her course in environmental security [GE494] helped me to understand that environmental factors like access to clean water, physical safety, and climate heavily impact the social determinants of health, exposure to disease, and overall public/population health. The education and mentorship she provided me as an Environmental Science major continues to impact the way I see and care for patients.

Where can a degree in Environmental Science take you?

From the classroom to medical school to deployments in the Middle East, Major Emily Buck’s (ESC ’15) career demonstrates the extraordinary range of opportunities unlocked by a foundation in environmental science.

As a Cadet, Major Buck majored in Environmental Science, ran on the Army Women’s Cross Country and Track teams, and served as the USCC Brigade Health Officer.

Now, a Family Physician with experience across full-scope outpatient and inpatient medicine, Major Buck has applied environmental and scientific thinking at every stage of her career. Following medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and a Family Medicine Residency at Madigan Army Medical Center, her operational assignments include service at Fort Carson, Colorado, with the 627th Hospital Center, as well as deploying with the 10th Field Hospital to Camp Buehring, Kuwait, and the Joint Training Center in Zarqa, Jordan.

Major Buck is passionate about evidence-based medicine, hospitalist medicine, and teaching. Following successful assignments as an Army physician, she has returned to West Point to serve as a Primary Care Physician at Keller Army Community Hospital. In addition to practicing medicine, she will continue to lead and shape future medical professionals as Co-Chair of the Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians Education Committee, an Instructor at USUHS and an Assistant Professor at New York Medical College, while continuing to invest in Cadet development and inspire future leaders of character as an Officer Representative for the Marathon Team.