Evening star., 1948-09-05

1OStuio lilC AiiiS Soyc At iiSSAn, At 40
4 matter of fourth-grade arithmetic
o work out the intended ratio.
During the war the Army set up as
an ideal a ratio of SIS doctors per
900 men, an ideal which it actually
in practice. Now. and
quite unofficially. it speaks of an
deal of five doctors per 1000 men
one doctor for every 200 soldiers in
stead of the one doctor for every $50
soldiers it has set as goal.
Commenting on these figures. DR..
said the Navy, at its war
time peak, operated on a ratio Of
3.5 doctors per 1000 men. And" he
added, they did very well on that
basis. The excellence of the medical
care provided by the Navy was never.
to my knowledge. questioned"
He said, furthermore, that it
should be possible to reduce the ratio
of doctors to men in uniform even
more now, because the services have
developed nonprofessional Medical
Service Corps to relieve doctors Of
paper work which engaged much of
attention during the war. Also, he
said, there are available laboratory,
X-ray and other technicians, who
need not be doctors, but can relieve
doctors of many OF their former
responsibilities.
Must Strike a Balance
"Our council is sympathetic to the
military in considering its problem"
DR.. Sargent said. Most of US, were,
as I was, in military service in the
last war. But at the same time, we
have to think of the needs of the
civilian population, and strike a
balance"
One of the factors 20 be consid-
ered, he added, is that the military
services select young men, preSum-
ably the finest physical specimens
in the land, while the civilian popu-
lation, which even now has far
fewer doctors in proportion to popu-
lation, includes the aged, the lame.
the halt and the blind, and those
who cannot measure up to the phys
ical standards set by the military
services.
What is needed, DR.. Sargent OBJ
served, is a JOINT commission OF
civilian and Army doctors to estab-
lish the eX.ent of the need OF the
armed forces for doctors. Nothing
has been done to Dring that about,
he said.
I'm addition he added, there
should be medical unit In the
National Security Resources Board
which would look at the overall
need of the Nation, both the civilian
need and the military need.
The board is just now in the
process of setting up such a commit
tee. If it is given the responsibility,
and the authority it ought to have.
it should provide safety valve
which would bring about proper
balance between civilian and mill
tary needs
DR.. Sargent said he had been
asked to serve on that committee,
but it had not yet begun to func-
ton.
Moral Duty Stressed
The Army Medical Corps spokes-
man who provided the figures preW-
ously mentioned on the present and
intended number of doctors in uni
form, said efforts are being made to
expand It's medical service pending
passage of a revised draft bill.
During the war the Army paid for
the medical education of thousands
of young doctors with the agree
ment that, after graduation, they
would serve in uniform for two
years. But with the end Of the war,
and the rapid demobilization which
followed, the Army didn't want to
commission these young medical
graduates as officers, even If they
had wanted commissions. Their
agreement was that they would
serve Immediately following gradu-
alton, so the Army now has no
strings on these young physicians,
except for those who accepted COM
missions in the Reserve Corps, and
even these cannot be called to &C
tive duty except on declaration OF
an emergency.
But those who gained medical
education at Government expense
and we're not called to active serv-
ice, are being urged to consider that
they have a moral duty" to enter
service now, when they are needed.
AS an added inducement, Congress
has provided that medical officers
who enlist may be paid an extra
sl00 a month above the base pay
and allowances for officers OF the
same grade in other branches Of
the service. In addition, the pres
ent draft law permits induction OF
doctors, but only those under the
age of 26, and the extra 500 q
month compensation is not avail
able to those who are inducted,
rather than enlisted.
Seeks More Consultants
AS another step the Medical Corps
has abandoned its traditional "ta-
bles of organization" which speci-
fed, for instance, that for every
unit of 1000 men in uniform there
should be doctors. A more fluid
system has been worked out with
The intention of providing the same
amount of medical care. Under this
;ystem 1t is assumed that fewer doc
,ors may be needed. for instance, at
particular fort or other station, II
here is In the vicinity an Army
general hospital to which the men =.
1t that fort or station may be ad- g
nitted.