Experience
Bagian worked as a process engineer for the 3M Company in Bristol, Pennsylvania, in 1973, and later as a mechanical engineer at the U.S. Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River, Maryland, from 1976 to 1978, and at the same time, pursued studies for his medical degree. Upon graduating from Thomas Jefferson University in 1977, Bagian completed one year of general surgery residency with the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania. He subsequently went to work as a flight surgeon and research medical officer at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1978, while concurrently completing studies at the USAF Flight Surgeons School and USAF School of Aerospace Medicine in San Antonio, Texas. He was completing a residency in anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania when notified of his selection by NASA for the astronaut candidate program. Bagian received his Professional Engineers Certification in 1986, and was board-certified in aerospace medicine by the American College of Preventive Medicine in 1987. Since 1981, Bagian has been active in the mountain rescue community and has served as a member of the Denali Medical Research Project on Mt. McKinley. He has been a snow-and-ice rescue techniques instructor on Mount Hood during this period. Bagian is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and is the pararescue flight surgeon for the 939th Air Rescue Wing. He is a USAF-qualified freefall parachutist, holds a private pilot's license and has logged over 1,500 hours flying time in propeller and jet aircraft, helicopters, and gliders.
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