The Requirement for Medical Corps Officers (Physicians) to be Medical Facility Commanders and Major Medical Staff Officers in NATO and HSC.
Abstract
The necessity for Medical Corps Officers (Physicians) to be Major Medical Facilities Commanders and Staff Officers in NATO and HSC is documented historically, conceptually, and in real time. From 1868 to the present day, the historical evidence demonstrates the Surgeon General has continued to remove those administrative details not requiring a physician commander to the Medical Service Corps. The Surgeon Generals, over the period, have each stressed and affirmed the necessity for a physician to be the commander, and major medical staff officer, whenever patients or their care are concerned. The pendulum is swinging back, rapidly, in civilian medicine to place the physician in firm, formal control of civilian hospitals, as the literature and interviews demonstrate. The line Generals and Surgeon Generals of the NATO/Cento hierarchy want to deal with physicians as commanders as demonstrated through multiple interviews and correspondence. The physician is not necessarily a commander by virtue of his MD degree; the Surgeon General, through a rigid selection process, is assuring the US soldier that only those best qualified are commanders. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 12, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA059996
Entities
People
- Kenneth A. Cass
Organizations
- United States Army War College