Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Amelia Duran-Stanton is currently the Army Medical Specialist Corps Specific Branch Proponent Officer at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
LTC Duran-Stanton’s military and medical career began in basic training in the early 1990s. She was a patient administrator for eight years where she was stationed in Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico and Fort Carson, Colorado and attained the rank of staff sergeant. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in 1997 from Regis University prior to being accepted to the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Interservice Physician Assistant Program Class 2-98 where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physician Assistant Studies and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Her first duty station as a PA was with the 47th Forward Support Battalion in Baumholder, Germany and she finished a Masters Degree in Physician Assistant Studies during deployment in Kosovo through the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Postsecondary and Adult Education through Capella University and a Doctor of Science (DSc) in Physician Assistant Studies degree in Clinical Orthopaedics through the U.S. Army/Baylor University program.
LTC Duran-Stanton’s military education includes the Patient Administrator Course (Distinguished Honor Graduate), the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course (Leadership Awardee and Commandant’s List), the Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP), the orthopaedic physician assistant training program, the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Basic and Advance Courses, the Tactical Combat Medical Course, Intermediate Level Education, the Mary Lipscomb Hamrick Research Course, the Management of Burns and Multiple Trauma Course, the Joint Operations Medical Management Course, the Tactical Combat Medical Care Course, the Inspector General Course, Defense Acquisition Courses (S&T Level 3, PM Level 2), the AMEDD Executive Skills Course, the LEADS Healthcare Management Course, the Hospital Incident Command System Course, the Defense Planners Course, the How the Army Runs Course, the Senior Officer Legal Course, the AMEDD Pre-command Course, and the USU Global Health Engagement graduate certificate. She completed the US Army Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Black Belt (BB) and Master Black Belt (MBB) courses. She is Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certified and coaches belt candidates. She is passionate in mentoring junior personnel and researchers with multiple ongoing projects annually.
Her deployments include Kosovo and Iraq with the 1st Armored Division and Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division. She was the Fort Bragg Medical Simulation Training Center Officer in Charge (OIC), the Womack Army Medical Center senior military orthopaedic physician assistant/IPAP Phase 2 Clinical Coordinator, the MEDCOM IG Deputy Chief of Inspections, and the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) Deputy Chief of the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division. She was the Chief of the Ready and Resilient (R2) Integration Branch and the Deputy Surgeon at the Installation Management Command Headquarters (IMCOM HQ), JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and the US Army Health Clinic Ansbach Commander in Medical Activity Bavaria, Germany prior to her current position. She was also The Army Surgeon General’s Deputy Physician Assistant Consultant (2017-2020); Secretary (2018-2019) and Director of Active Duty (2019-2020) for the Society of Army Physician Assistants; and a lifetime member of the Society of European Physician Assistants.
Some of her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (6), the Army Commendation Award (6), the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Army Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Combat Medical Badge, the Expert Field Medical Badge (Distinguished Honor Graduate), the Order of the Spurs, and SAPA’s Scully Award.
LTC Duran-Stanton’s skill identifiers are: the 9A Proficiency Designation, AMEDD Acquisition Officer, Inspector General, Tagalog Linguist, Instructor, Defense Strategist, Defense Planner, orthopaedic physician assistant, Medical Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. She is a member of the Acquisition Corps, Order of Military Medical Merit (O2M3), an Iron Majors recipient, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. LTC Duran-Stanton was the first physician assistant recipient of the AMSC New Horizon Research Award with multiple publications, podium and poster presentations. She was also named as one of the Global100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World by the Filipina Women’s Network.
She and her husband have two beautiful children.
Acknowledgments: This biography was written by LTC Amelia Duran-Stanton and MAJ Patrick Walsh and was submitted to the Society in September 2017. The biography was updated in September 2023. Photographs are courtesy of LTC Duran-Stanton.
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Disclaimer: The authors’ views do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
