by Rodney Jackson, CRDAMC Public Affairs
Fort Cavazos, Texas – Lt. Col. Michael Bybel, family physician, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center was officially presented the Medical Corps 9A Proficiency Designator award given by the Army Surgeon General in a ceremony at the hospital Dec. 4.
The “9A” Proficiency Designator is the highest recognition for professional excellence in the Army Medical Department. Candidates nominated for the honor must be eminently qualified to Chair a department, division or service, or have attained full professional status and national prominence in their field.
Bybel was nominated for the award in the spring and the nomination went before a board panel of the Army Surgeon General’s office and learned a few months that he received the award.
Bybel credited his wife, Kathleen, who he met in medical school and also a family physician at CRDAMC for being with him every step of the way.
“I appreciate being nominated and selected for the award,” said Bybel. “I appreciate everyone that I was fortunate enough to work with over the past 13 years. There were just a lot of good people that helped me to this place.”
Receiving this award is no small feat according to Col. Drew Baird, director of medical education, CRDAMC.
“This award is difficult to achieve, because of the requirements,” said Baird. “You have to have published in the medical literature, held specific positions, advanced in academic medicine, and have national prominence in your field.”
“The award really reflects his clinical expertise and academic excellence,” he added.
Besides his main job as family physician, Bybel is the program director for the family medicine obstetrics fellowship at CRDAMC, which is a one-year fellowship that trains Army board certified family physicians in complicated obstetrics, and obstetric surgery.
Bybel was the second graduate of the fellowship in 2014 and, after working in family medicine and obstetrics at Fort Campbell and serving as a battalion surgeon in Kuwait, he returned to CRDAMC in 2017 and was then selected as the fellowship program director in 2021.
Bybel is also faculty in the family residency program at CRDAMC, helping to train family medicine residents to graduate their program and become board certified.
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