Our good neighbor to the south, Mexico, has had outstanding success with their military medical school in Mexico City which has been recognized for exemplary academic and clinical accomplishments since 1917. Support for the Public Health Services was also recognized as an important requirement which may be expanded in the future under additional recommendations. The additional time for the dual tract is gained by active duty participation on a 12-month basis. Since the first class was graduated in 1980 there have been 2,148 graduates. The Department of Surgery is supporting and working closely with these individuals who represent the future leadership for service to our Nation in the surgical specialties.
Students are highly competitive on a national basis.
The Graduate School has, also, been highly successful. One of the graduates from the Department of Physiology is providing leadership for research in the Department of Surgery as one important example. Many important advances in the development of surgical techniques have been generated from battlefield experiences. Surgeons have not volunteered in adequate numbers, particularly during times of relative peace, to serve in the military of the United States of America in this 20th Century. One of the challenges from the beginning was to be competitive for the service of surgeons in support of a traditional department of surgery.