Michael Cowan Obituary, Death – The death of Vice Admiral Michael L. Cowan, who served as the 34th Surgeon General of the Navy, occurred on December 10, 2023. He was 78 years old. During the course of his 33-year career, Vice Admiral Cowan held a wide range of posts, including those belonging to the clinical, operational, staff, and leadership categories.

The year 2001 was the pinnacle of his professional career when he was appointed to the position of Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) and the 34th Surgeon General of the United States Navy. The legacy that Cowan has left behind in his career includes being a pioneer in the idea of Force Health Protection, redefining deployable medicine in the 21st century, and serving as the Navy Surgeon General during the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, as well as the beginning of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

You could say that the resident of Fort Morgan, Colorado was always interested in medicine. This is something that may be said. After completing his pre-med studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder and then going on to complete his medical education at the Washington University School of Medicine, Cowan moved on to study internal medicine and haematology at Temple University, where he was mentored by Dr. Sol Sherry (1907-1983).

Her study resulted in the creation of clot-dissolving medications that were used to treat heart attacks. Sherry was already a major figure in the field of medicine. When Cowan was inducted into the military in 1971, he had the intention of following in Sherry’s footsteps and spending his entire career in academic medicine. However, this plan was changed when Cowan was enlisted. During that period of time, Cowan reflected, “I was a free spirit.” I could have pulled my hair back into a ponytail, but it was too long for me to do so.

In 1971, I held the same perspective on the military that the majority of people did at the time; I was strongly opposed to war and the military. Everything I thought I understood about the military turned out to be incorrect, and I had no idea what I was talking about. In spite of the fact that he joined the Navy “kicking and screaming,” as he later playfully stated, he was “hooked” on the military very quickly.

Cowan gained an understanding of the significant role that the Navy played in providing support to the Marines while he was working as a general medical officer at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. According to Cowan, “I took a lot of pride in the fact that I was providing care for these young men and women who were serving their country.” As a physician, it was a significant relief to be aware that I did not have to be concerned about their insurance coverage. I usually used the phrase, “I didn’t have to ask them how sick they could afford to be.”