Physicians in the Army: How Many are Enough?
Abstract
Faced with increasing emphasis on quality assurance, further technological advances, and the growing expectations of a well educated population, the Army Medical Corps finds itself constrained by a critical manpower shortage. Comparing physician: population ratios in the army community with that of the United States as a whole reveals staggering discrepancies between medical corps resources and responsibilities. The nation has 183 physicians per 100,000 (72 physicians per 100,000 providing primary health care) in comparison with the medical corps' 84 physicians per 100,000 (33 physicians per 100,000 providing primary health care). These differences are even more striking in view of the Army's worldwide deployment and contingency training missions. To remedy this serious deficit will require a multifaceted approach that encompasses increasing medical corp strength, more fully automating the Army Medical Department, addressing the shortages of nursing and paraprofessional personnel that dramatically handicap physician productivity, sharing resources among the military services, judiciously increasing the use of civilian health care resources, and taking a hard look at the size of the population that can be satisfactorily supported.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 22, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA158210
Entities
People
- L. M. Burger
Organizations
- United States Army War College