White River Junction VA Medical Center, Vermont

David M. Worthen Award Winner

Jessica Hamblen, PhD, Acting Deputy Executive Director and Deputy for Education with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Center for PTSD in White River Junction, has been selected to receive the David M. Worthen Award for Career Achievement in Educational Excellence. This is the highest award given by the Veterans Health Administration to recognize outstanding achievements of national significance to education in the health professions.

In addition to her positions at the Center, Dr. Hamblen is also an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Under Dr. Hamblen’s leadership, the Center developed an extensive program to inform and educate Veterans, trauma survivors and their families, as well as clinicians, policymakers and others on PTSD and its evidence-based treatments. Among her many accomplishments is the Center’s website, www.ptsd.va.gov, which serves as its primary medium for the dissemination of educational material on trauma and PTSD. It has been visited by over six million people. Dr. Hamblen also pioneered important continuing education initiatives for mental health providers, including VA’s PTSD Consultation Program and Mentoring Program, and the PTSD 101 online series of courses.

At 1:00 pm on Monday, October 5, 2015, Dr. Hamblen will be presented the Worthen Award by Robert L. Jesse, MD, PhD, Chief Academic Affiliations Officer with the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations, at a recognition ceremony in Room 103 of Building 44 of the White River Junction VA Medical Center. Members of the news media are invited to attend and cover this ceremony.