Caring for fellow soldiers
Maryann Masone, M.D. ’95, served as an Army physician for 26 years
Maryann Masone, M.D., '95
Nov. 15, 2022 — When her grandmother became ill, a teenaged Maryann Masone, M.D. ’95, witnessed the warm care and attention provided by the health care team. From that moment on, Masone knew she wanted a career in medicine.
Her training at the University of Florida, first as an undergraduate and then as a medical student, helped prepare her for a career in obstetrics and gynecology that would span continents as she served an important population: U.S. Army soldiers and their loved ones.
Masone began her medical training in a cohort of about 30 students who were part of the Florida State University Program in Medical Sciences, where she spent her first year of medical school in Tallahassee before continuing her studies in Gainesville. She recalled being close with her friends, who spent long hours in the UF Health Science Center library, pulling all-nighters to study for exams.
“We had a great group that helped each other out,” she said. “We all wanted one another to succeed.”
Her medical school training was funded by the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program, which requires five years of service following graduation. She followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, his brother and her father, who were also in the military.
Masone said commencement was a joyful occasion, with her extended family attending to watch her receive her diploma and become commissioned into the Army as a captain. She remained in the Army as a physician for the next 26 years before retiring with the rank of colonel in 2021.
After completing her four-year residency and internship at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Masone was deployed to Iraq, Kuwait and Kosovo over the course of her career. She also spent four years stationed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and was stationed in San Antonio at Brooke Army Medical Center. She spent the last 12 years of her Army career at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as chief of the Department of Women’s Health. She continues to complete contract work at the hospital.
Masone said she is proud of the service she’s provided for soldiers, both in the States and abroad. She said caring for military families enabled her to remain close to her patients.
“In some families, I’ve delivered three of their kids and we still keep in touch for things like birthdays,” she said. “The military is a small community, so we’re all like a family.”
