The age-herald., 1898-09-02
HAD FIVE MONTHS SERVICE
The Physical Condition of the Military Surgeon Must Be as Nearly Perfect as Possible-Position Requires
 Special Training

liollo tlliu LIdllSS Ol lH6 MluldIy OuIB6OH'
 Colonel Senn says:
 Nearly five months of continuous ser vice with the drmy in the camp and field has afforded me an excellent opportunity to make a practical study of this subject. This time was spent in Camp Tanner, Springfield, Ill.,; Camp Geo. H. Thomas, Chickamauga, Ga., and the Cuban cam pagn, it being about equally divided in the different places A few weeks were occu- pied in Camp Tanner. where I assisted in the capacity of surgeon general of the state in the organization of the state troops. This service brought me into clos CT contact with the national guard of our state than at any time before. A physi- cal and professional examination in which took part brought out the shady as well as the sunny side of their qualifications. The result of my experience here con vinced me that the average national guard surgeon is a faithful doctor with more than average professional ability, but with few exceptions, lacking the necessary mil itary training in performing satisfactorily his administrative duties.
 "The four weeks service at Camp George H. Thomas as chief surgeon of the Sixth
  tended observation in making comparisons between the work done by the surgeons Of the regular army and of the national guard The surgeons of the United States army are all men of superior education' splendid physical development, and those who have been in the service for several years are well versed in the routine work of the medical department. However in tc fnin nd IT, gerry the average national guard surgeon more than holds his own. This superiority of the national guard surgeon over his col league of the regular army is no reflection on the latter; it is the outcome of circum- stances which make such difference in- evitable.
 "The exacting and often onerous duties of the military surgeon in times of war require special qualifications to prepare and fit him for his work. He is not only expected to be well versed in theoretical and practical knowledge pertaining to everything, the practice of medicine and surgery, but he must be endowed with. qualifications both of mind and body upon which he can rely when engaged under the most trying circumstances
 .The physical condition of the military surgeon InuSC DS dS tiSdIiy pei loSl eio poS7 sible During my service at Chickamauga and in the Cuban campaign, l saw more than one volunteer surgeon who ought to have been excluded from the service for physical disability. During campaign the loss of a single medical officer may prove "a great disaster Of all commissioned off, cers the surgeon is the most indispensable. His position is one requiring special train ing and one that cannot be filled without crippling the medical service at some other point. For this. if for none other reason, the medical officer must be in sound health and able to cope successfully with the hardships of a campaign.
 "A proper and adequate preliminary edu- cation is exacted of every surgeon in the regular army. Without his he is not per
 mtted to pass the medical examination. Statistics show a large percentage of the candidates are dropped at this stage of the examination. This is a reflection on the system of the medical examination which continues to prevail in our country. About the only evidence of proficiency the na- tional guard surgeon in most of our states is required to show is his diploma; it makes but little difference when the diploma was obtained.
 Any one WnO enters the meQlCal ser vice of the army as a life average will be disappointed unless he is imbued with a proper military spirit. The military sur geon must be a military man and an in- tegral part of the army, if he wants to do justice to his calling and the department he represents
 ITO the credit of the medical officers or this and other wars, it must be said that they showed no fear and in facing the ene- my or what is vastly worse-disease. When yellow fever made its appearance among the troops around Santiago, every man re- maned at his post and faced the danger without flnching. Men from the north who had never seen the disease accepted the detail for duty in the fever hospitals without a word of complaint This first and most important duty of the military surgeon is to prevent disease. This can of ten be done more effectively by example than by precept. The military surgeon must be known in camp as gentleman not only by officers, but by every man un- der his charge, if he expects to be respect ed and to do justice to his high calling and responsible position.
 ''Thc first and most important duty of ths military surgeon during active warfare is to prevent disease and unnecessary suffer- ing by giving early advice and resorting to timely precautions. The location of camps. policing of the same, the water SUD- ply, food and clothing, are subjects which must receive his early and earnest atten- tion In this work he should receive the hearty cooperation of the officers in con- mand, and if this Is not the case he has the moral and military authority to demand it. It was not the medical denar tment. but
 the arrogance or stupidity of the com mandmg general of the invading army taht is responsible for the extensive outbreak Of yellow fever during the Cuban campaign This experience is sufficient to teach com
 mandins generals that 1t is unsafe in the future to follow such an example as an im- prudence of this kind giving rise to mex cusable slaughter and indescribable suffer- ing will meet with universal Indignation"