The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-07-20
Training Doctors
For The Ar111v

o. united states soldier to be
killed Il the war and the first to ..
wounded were both in the Medica,
J corps This fact must have impressed
the American people with the serious
risks which are taken by army doc.
, tors. Before we entered the war the
bravery and sacrifice Of medical off.
GERS at the front mad probably been
TOO little appreciated AS a matter OF
TACT The officers and enlisted men In
the Me ii'sl Corps are the only SOL
dlers who 60 into Nc Mans Land with
, no defense whatever. The tireless
work on the battle field of the stretch
en- bearers, all Of whom are in the
Medical Corps, is full of danger.
No profession has volunteered its
services to the country more gener-
ously than the medical. profession
About $4,000 physicians, or nearly
Ione-fourth of the eligible physicians
OF the country, have expressed their
Willingness to resign practice and go
to war. Some have already received
their training and have gone to
france. Some are waiting to be
called, and about 1000 are now in
the camps receiving the special in
struction that will fit them for mil,
itary life.
When a physician receives word
that his offer to join the army has
been accepted, he is ordered to report
for duty at one of the training camps
where army surgical schools are 10.
Gated. One is at Fort Riley, Kan,
and the other is at Fort Oglethorpe,
Tenn. The doctors live in barracks
at these camps, just like any soldier
in the National Army. The complete
course of training which they Under
60 lasts three months.
The first month is given over to
teaching them the simple rules and
routine OF military discipline. They
learn to drill and to command COM
panies of men, and they study the or
ganization of the army and the func-
tions of its different parts. During the
second month they occupy them
selves with the special duties of med
ical officers. They are taught how
field hospital is run, how hospitals are
managed behind the lines, and the
new conditions and problems which
confront an army on the European
battle fronts. During the third month
they concentrate upon some specia,
branch of medical work. Some are
specialists in X-ray photography,
some in head surgery, and others in
the various other departments CT med
icine and surgery.
About half of the graduates of these
camps are sent away for service in
the front lines. The men picked for
this are the younger men and those
who are more robust and able to with
stand the necessary hardships. The
rest 20 into the different hospitals and
institutions behind the lines. About
l1O per cent into Roentgenology, 30
per cent into general surgery, another
10 per cent into cardiovascular prac
tice. and so on. The proportion OF
linen assigned to any given branch is
determined by the need for specialists
in that line.
or course, It has not been possible
to train in this fashion all OF the
physicians in the Medical Corps. The
need was so pressing that many had
to be taken directly out OF civil life
and given a uniform. It is the pur-
pose of the surgeon generals staff to
do this as little as possible in the flu
ture, 80 that the officers In the Med
ical Corps may all have a knowledge
of military technique.