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Medical career that started with dreams of wealth now focuses on healing the brain

  • Published
  • By Military Health System Communications Office
  • Defense Health Agency
FALLS CHURCH, Va. --  Like millions of other fans, Dr. Heechin Chae viewed the recent Super Bowl with great intensity. But while watching for the big plays and turning points in the game, this expert on traumatic brain injury (TBI) looked for something more. 

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, yeah, that guy is definitely concussed,’” he said. 

This Korean immigrant who came to America with his family when he was 14 now heads up the National Intrepid Center of Excellence satellite office at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, one of nine special centers within the Military Health System to treat those suffering from TBI. Chae is a physiatrist – a doctor specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation, with a subspecialty in brain injury medicine. 

“I was fascinated by the complexity of the brain, what happens when the brain gets injured,” he said. “But I was also fascinated by the science of healing, and how can a brain adapt or heal after the injury. The recovery and rehabilitation of the injured brain is what interested me the most.” 

But Chae somewhat sheepishly admitted his beginnings in medicine weren’t totally altruistic. He and his brother watched his parents struggle with finances and decided they wanted to go into careers where they would have plenty of money and didn’t have to worry about losing their jobs. “Fortunately, I was OK with academics, so it was natural for me to think about going into medicine. It’s kind of embarrassing, but in the beginning, it wasn’t all about helping people,” he laughed. 

All this changed during college when had what he described as a “spiritual experience” that changed the direction of his life. He began to see his medical skills as a tool to heal people, and that’s what led him to choose the specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation. “All doctors take their job seriously, but for me, I think I came [to the Intrepid Center at Fort Belvoir] with a higher purpose. I’m interested in whether we are changing people’s lives, if they’re healing from their injuries and suffering.” 

Working at Harvard University in Boston from 1994 to 2011, Chae honed his skills and became more fascinated with how patients healed from TBIs. His work ranged from helping a patient wake up from a coma to treating concussions in athletes, including the weekend variety. He was offered the opportunity to open up the new TBI clinic at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. Although he didn’t have a lot of details about the new facility, it was something he couldn’t resist. He arrived in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in June 2011. 

“It was an opportunity to build a program specifically for people with traumatic brain injury, especially those with mild TBI,” a condition that can be as debilitating as severe TBI, said Chae. “Also, I knew there was a large group of patients who are suffering from this injury concentrated in the military. Plus, from an administrator’s perspective, I got to build the program from the ground up.” 

His boss at Fort Belvoir, Army Lt. Col. Wendi Waits, oversees all behavioral health services at the hospital. She said Chae’s unique skill set and background working in prestigious research and rehabilitation fields brings a depth of knowledge to the brain injury treatment program there.

“He could work anywhere, but he really believes in the mission and has a vested interest in caring for the nation’s veterans and warriors,” she said. Waits added his poise and polish make him a perfect fit in the whole team of care providers there. “He’s very driven but in a quiet, professional and diplomatic way. He came in with a vision and has kept himself and his staff focused on that vision from day one.” 

In the past five years, Chae built his and the military’s knowledge of how the brain works, although he said there’s still so much more to learn. The challenge has been adjusting how the Intrepid Center functions as new information is uncovered. “Clinicians don’t like changes. We like routines, but the brain doesn’t allow you to do that. Within one year, we can learn a lot about the brain, and old treatments suddenly become outdated.” 

Chae also likes the way the military puts needs of service members ahead of financial concerns, which is seldom seen in civilian health care. While he and his staff still have to show fiscal responsibility, they can focus their efforts on providing the best treatments for their patients. 

And personally, Chae has grown as a doctor and a person. 

“The brain always humbles me,” said Chae. “When I think I’ve figured it out, the brain always tells me, ‘No, you didn’t.’ That teaches me as a person and certainly as a doctor that humility is a good thing. It helps me stay hungry and keep trying to learn more. It’s helped me grow professionally and as a person. It’s also taught me that as human beings, we are more than flesh and blood.”