Pathologist ends military career Published March 11, 2009 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, BILOXI, MISS. -- Col. (Dr.) Robert Zalme ended a 30-year Air Force career Feb. 13. An oral pathologist with the 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron pathology and clinical laboratory flight, Colonel Zalme had mixed emotions about the occasion -- happy to begin a new chapter in his life, but a bit regretful for being unable to complete a major project with which he's been involved. He began his Air Force career in 1979 as a general dentist at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. In June 1982, the colonel entered the oral and maxillofacial pathology residency program at Atlanta's Emory University Dental School. He followed that with a yearlong fellowship at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C. Colonel Zalme was a staff pathologist at Lester Naval Hospital and Kadena Air Base, Japan, and David Grant Medical Center, Travis AFB, Calif., before arriving at Keesler in 2002. At Keesler, the colonel spearheaded two major congressionally-funded online pathology projects. The first was a $20 million, seven-year effort to develop telepathology used to practice pathology over the Internet. "Basically, it involves placing a glass slide on a scanner to create a digital image that is saved to a computer," Colonel Zalme explained. "That allows consultants around the world to view a particular slide, enabling us to share our workload or complex cases with other military pathologists worldwide." He's also been deeply involved the past two years with another congressionally-funded effort to develop an online pathology course. Funded with almost $2 million, he spent the first year creating a highly-interactive didactic course concentrating on forensic dentistry. He's spent the second year designing a virtual, interactive lab. "The computer will have collections of large numbers of missing persons and specimens, CT scans and photos. When a student logs on, the computer randomly selects a scenario from 100,000 possible mixes. Students complete autopsy forms on line which instructors will verify. It also includes a wealth of reference material." While its original purpose was to serve as a an educational tool to meet a training requirement for dentists, the unique system will be available not only to all medical and dental providers but also to law enforcement and legal Air Force Specialty Codes. It's also capable of enabling remote online completion of forms and determination of body identification for real-world missions. "It will provide a 24/7, worldwide training capability," he remarked. "The interactivity software remains in the development stage, hopefully to be completed this summer. "It's been exciting to be a part of these projects," Colonel Zalme continued, "but I regret I'm not going to be here to see them come to fruition." "It's been a good and challenging ride," the colonel said of his military career. "I've set foot in 14 countries and all 50 states. I've met numerous VIPs, presidents and ambassadors. It's been very rewarding to have the ability to deploy anywhere in the world to identify victims. At that time, your team is very important. I've enjoyed working with people who have a strong desire to succeed. I've also enjoyed working in the training environment, teaching mainly dental residents, but also a few medical residents." He's one of just six dental pathologists in the Air Force; there were 12 when he first started in the field. Colonel Zalme and his wife, Judy, have a daughter, Heather, who just graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans. The family is moving to Georgetown, Ky., outside Lexington, where he will teach at Georgetown College, his alma mater.