Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-11-04
MEDICAL OFFICERS
MADE IN Z MONTHS

the training schools for medical Of
ficers were put into active operation
to Judge whether anticipated results
have been achieved. The raiseon
d'etre of the schools lay In the fol-
lowing considerations: The medical
officer in the army occupies position
different from that of his civilian
eonferere, in that he must assume
responsibility of large amount of
administrative work, which must s@5e
done along lines identical with those
used by the rest of the army.
A member of the Medical Officers
Reserve Corps, transplanted to active
Fduty in the army, must be familiar
with the organization of the army, itsl
rules of procedure, its system for
placing responsibility, its relation to
the civil authorities, and lastly, with
that unwritten code known as the
customs of the service. Further, he
must know accurately the relation of
the medical department to the line
officer in order that his duties may
effectively be performed. Now, these
things while less formidable to laern
than the professional knowledge that
the physician has already acquired,
nevertheless require study, drill, and
practical application The training
camps have been instituted 40 instill
this knowledge. Starting with the
assumption that the physician is
familiar with the practical aspects OF
medicine and surgery, the three
months of intensive training supplies
the lacking to develop HIM into a COM
petent army medical officer.
One of the different things to ac-
quire is the army viewpoint. If a
civilian physician were to have sud
denly thrust upon him a group OF
wounded soldiers of whom or two had
severe penetrating abdominal injuries
and the rest only slight cuts, what
would he do? First, he would care
for the severely wounded men by GET
ting them to the hospital and possibly
operating upon goth at once. He
would leave the slightly wounded to
shift for themselves, if need be- The
army medical officer after an engage
ment evacuates them all, unless the
injury is such that soldier should
not be Immediately transported If
he must make choiGe between the very
severely wounded and the less so, the
army medical officer gives preference
to the latter. This is due to the fact
that his primary duty is to keep the
number of the electives UP to the
highest possible point. Humanitarian
considerations come second. This
probably sounds shocking to the aver
age layman, but war at best is shock
ing
The army medical officer is primari-
ly samaritan. The layman IS apt
to think of such man Of higher rank
as performing numbers of major OPP
erations and seeing numerous sick
men, whereas a division surgeon is
more concerned with the problems
of preventive medicine and sanitation
than with the technique of taking oil
leg. Junior officers do most of the
strictly professional work.
4
| 1t is so important to have the sani-
tary end of the problem properly done
| that each division has a special medi
| cal officer, normally a Lieutenant
| Colonel, who functionates solely as a
sanitary inspector of that division.
1t is his duty to advise the division
surgeon, and through him the Com
handing General, concerning sanitary
measures for the health of the troops.
So long as the health of the troops
is normal the operation of the sani-
J tary service is practically unnoticed.
Army sanitation is q difficult task at
best.
| When one remembers that in the
field only the most limited supplies
are available, and that the camp has
often to be made in poor surround
ings; furthermore; that the soldier Is
subjected not only to the physical and
lpsychial strain on marching and
| fighting, but to inclemencies of the
weather, it may be understood that
sanitary problems are of first magn.-
tude
Questions involved in these prob
lens are explained in the course
taught at the training camp. a civil
ian physician OF good training can. eff
fectively take up the duties of an
army medical officer after attepdin%
such a school Some physicians, by
virtue of highly specialistic train
ing. are adapted for hospital work
and will, of course, be used in such