physicians in combat

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ddmo

ddmo

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Hi all,
I guess this post mostly applies to the army and parts of the navy (devil docs). My question is, how prevalent is it for physicians to be in combat or tactical situations? Prior to deciding on medicine, I often considered joining the military in an infantry or special forces type role. However, now that I have been accepted to a couple medical schools and I know I want to be a physician. I have been considering an army HPSP but I am apprehensive about it since if I am in the military I dont want to be stuck in some army hospital all day. I want to be able to get out there and take part in activities with the troops in the field. On the army website one of their profiles is about a Dentist who is a member of the 10th mountain division special forces if I remember correctly. Do they have similar spots for physicians? Also, what fields of medicine in terms of specialties are prefered for combat doctors, I know gen. surgeons are usually in demand, but what about surgical specialties. Overall, I am looking for something where I won't simply have a support role.

Also, what is the commitment for doctors who pay their own way through med school and do a civilian residency, but choose to join the military later?

Thanks
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You want to do what the Army broadly refers to as "operational medicine." What you can do is toward the end of your residency request to be assigned as a "battalion/brigade surgeon," which means you will be a medical officer for a combat unit (you don't have to actually be a surgeon; that's just a generic term for the chief medical officer of a unit). At your home base you will be doing the usual clinic/patient care stuff, but if and when your unit deploys, you will go with them.

The other way to get field experience if you are in an assignment where you are "stuck in a hospital all day" as you put it, is to have a PROFIS assignment to a field unit. The PROFIS system is a system the army has to assign physicians to units which don't normally have one but need one when they get deployed. Often these are reserve or national guard units, and when those units are called up, you go with them. For example, your main job may be as a surgeon at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Georgia, but you may also have a PROFIS assignment to a unit of the 82nd airborne, or to a reserve field hospital. It they deploy, you get pulled from Eisenhower and deployed with that unit.

All kinds of surgical subspecialties are needed (combat = trauma), but other specialties such as internal medicine, family practice, and anesthesia are also frequently deployed.

I can't anwer your second question about docs who sign up after residency. I really don't know what the standard enlistment is under those circumstances, but I suspect the minimum enlistment is probably 3 years.
 
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Hey guys,

I am attending USUHS with the Air Force next year, and I was wondering if there are any operational medicine positions within the AF. This was one thing I didn't consider when picking branches... I strongly feel that operational medicine is what I want to do, but I want to make sure the AF has these kinds of jobs for its docs.

Thanks!
~Alison
 
Originally posted by ddmoore54

Also, what is the commitment for doctors who pay their own way through med school and do a civilian residency, but choose to join the military later?
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i think the best way to do this is to go thru the Health Professions Loan Repayment Program (HPLRP) where the military pays you for each year you serve, up to like 3 years of payment...here's one page, but you could do a search online for more info:

http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/Army/Recruiting/amedd/hplrp.htm
 
Alli Cat-

When my squadron deployed to Korea to backfill for the USS Kittyhawk 5 years ago, we took our flight surgeon along. He also went with us to Operation Northern Watch. He was qualified to fly with us but had his hands full (sts) keeping the troops healthy. Flight surgery is a good way to get some of that operational action you're looking for. When you get down to it, the AF is really about "bombs on target, on time." So, the docs who directly support the flying side of the house get a lot of action.
 
Thanks! I can totally see how being a flight surgeon would give me the kind of action I'm interested in. I'm not sure my eyes are up to snuff, but if I can pass the flight physical I'm there!

~Alli
 
-Brats

I looked at that site and it talked of 2-3 years of Reserve Duty. I found this other site

http://ci.afit.edu/ciml/hplrp_svs_agreement.asp

that is a sample service agreement which talks about 2-3 years of Active Duty Obligation, with the rest of 8 years in Individual Ready Reserve.

So, is the ADO refering to Active Duty Reserve, or is it full Active Duty? Also, the IRR, is that the same thing that HPSP requires after active duty where you are on reserve, but not the type where you spend time training.
 
There are also opportunities for operational medicine in the AF, most notably as a special operations flight surgeon. While at the intro course to USAFSAM for HPSP (http://wwwsam.brooks.af.mil/web/af/courses/hpsp/hpsp01.htm) I met a former chief flight surgeon of AFSOC (Col. B. Hadley Reed, who runs the above course) and another Spec Ops FS (Col. Allen). As it was explained by Col. Reed, selection is pretty competetive, basically hand-picking by whoever is Chief FS of AFSOC. After selection there is another year of training before getting out in the field ie. wherever AFSOC units might go and with whomever they might go with (sister services' SOC forces). Col. Allen worked most frequently with special tactics teams (PJ's and Combat Controllers. Note: check out specialtactics.com, and read Black Hawk Down and The Perfect Storm for a little insight into these guys who are probably the least known bad-a**es of the spec-ops community), but he also worked occasionally with TAC-P's (which would entail working with the army). Along with other training, he was sent to both the NOAA and navy Dive Medical Officer (DMO) courses, making him one of the few DMO's in the AF. He said that when he deployed he often did so just as the other ground-pounders. While his experience might not be reflective of every Spec Ops FS, it does give an indication to the opportunities available.
 
Wow, that's intense. It would be f*cking awesome to be able to be involved in that kind of mission. I get all excited about being a doctor, but the reason I'm joining the military and doing it that way is I get excited about doing that stuff, too.

I highly doubt I'd pass the flight physical, but I bet I have as good of a shot at qualifying to be an FS as I would passing a physical for some Army or Navy Spec Ops physician role. Any thoughts on this? Are flight surgeons held to much more stringent physical standards than other docs?

Also, is it common for a doctor in one branch to work with servicemen of another branch, like Col. Allen?

Thanks for the info! I'm going to go read those links now. Uh, if my questions are answered therein, don't flame me, pls? 🙂

~Alli
 
If you want to do operational medicine I would suggest Emergency Medicine. It is one of the most deployable medical assets the Army has. There are many opportunities with additional specialties. If you are really serious you can get in touch with the USASOC surgeon's office at FT Bragg. Through them you can get involved with the SF side of the house or get assignments to the Ranger Regiments, Civil Affairs, or the 160th. Just FYI every single physician is PROFIS'ed to some unit in the Army. Once you finish residency if they get deployed so do you. In reality if you are interested in being operational on a full time basis they will find a place for you to go get your boots dirty. Not everyone is interested in giving up a white coat and staying 72 degrees and flourescent to go operational. Good luck to you.
Sean
 
FYI,

At a talk recently given by COL Farr, Army Component Surgeon to SOCOM, he bluntly said if you are interested in SpecOps medicine, he "doesn't want to see you until you are board certified." Really wasn't too specific about which specialty is preferred; seems they've had both good and bad experiences with all specialties. He also said he'd really like Army docs to have the FS badge prior to applying.

In my experience, the docs PROFIS to the manuever battalions & the FSMC/DSMC were the FP's working in the TMC.

FWIW,
 
the last few responses have focused on army physicians....are the same opportunities available to navy physicians? would they do similar things with the SEALs or marines?
 
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Originally posted by denali
FYI,

He also said he'd really like Army docs to have the FS badge prior to applying.


FWIW,
Click to expand...

What is a FS badge?
 
Hey All,

Correct me if I'm wrong - we finished our military med final a few weeks ago so i pushed most of it out of my head to make room for other stuff.

Right now the air force is going to get closest to the action. They have the smallest (read - most mobile) medical teams and are therefore contracted the most. Army and Airforce are trying to come up with similar packages to compete for the $ that comes along.

It doesn't matter what kind of doc really - they train everyone in extra trauma. We've had all sorts of different specialties come back from Iraq and talk to us. I dunno if you knew, but the only doc present when we took the iraqi airport was an HPSP peds doctor first year out of residency.

As for special forces, the last op. med speaker we had basically said he'd take any residency. Women aren't really considered for navy special forces, but air force and army will take women if they're willing to jump through all the hoops. One point the speaker made was that the docs are not going to be right there with the special forces ready to kill - they're going to be back a bit more in a supportive position. He said some people come in not expecting that.

Hope that helps
 
The Air Force has some sweet concepts as far as getting surgical and intensive care capabilities far forward, but I've got to respectfully disagree with my classmate somewhat:

Short of the medic/corpsman, I don't think any physician routinely gets "closer to the action" than those who are organic to the combat units, particularly the maneuver battalion surgeons (Army/Marines).

How close can they get? Doctrinally my BAS was supposed to be approx. 4km or one terrain feature behind the trigger pullers, but there are many times I humped a ruck full of med supplies and commo gear because my forward aid station was dismounted and attached to a light infantry rifle company. My battalion commander LOVED the idea of the dismounted treatment team.

That being said, if you're Army, and you want to deploy alot to take care of troops, get assigned to (or be PROFIS to) a unit in the XVIII Corps or SOF. If you're in the Air Force, become a unit flight surgeon or get assigned to one of the new SPEARR, CCAT or EMEDDS units.
 
In what capacity do the Army Special Forces employ physicians? I am a 2LT doing Army HPSP, and I will be an MS1 at UTMB Galveston beginning in August. I would like to do an Emergency Medicine residency, and I really want to be as involved as possible with combat operational medicine. What I really want to do, however, is Army Special Forces medicine. Does anyone know anything about this subject? Any information would be helpful.
 
Originally posted by Aaron
In what capacity do the Army Special Forces employ physicians? I am a 2LT doing Army HPSP, and I will be an MS1 at UTMB Galveston beginning in August. I would like to do an Emergency Medicine residency, and I really want to be as involved as possible with combat operational medicine. What I really want to do, however, is Army Special Forces medicine. Does anyone know anything about this subject? Any information would be helpful.
Click to expand...

Hey Aaron,

I'm a 3rd year at UTMB right now and am an officer in the military medical student association. Drop me an email when you get a chance. Would love to meet you this summer. Welcome and congrats for getting in!!
 
Originally posted by denali
The Air Force has some sweet concepts as far as getting surgical and intensive care capabilities far forward, but I've got to respectfully disagree with my classmate somewhat:

Short of the medic/corpsman, I don't think any physician routinely gets "closer to the action" than those who are organic to the combat units, particularly the maneuver battalion surgeons (Army/Marines).

How close can they get? Doctrinally my BAS was supposed to be approx. 4km or one terrain feature behind the trigger pullers, but there are many times I humped a ruck full of med supplies and commo gear because my forward aid station was dismounted and attached to a light infantry rifle company. My battalion commander LOVED the idea of the dismounted treatment team.
Click to expand...

Please keep in mind that in the types of conflicts in which we are now engaged, the concept of formal "front lines" has gone out the window. Recently, MAJ Mark Taylor, an Army surgeon, was killed in an "insurgent" rocket attack on his base. I believe he's the first physician fatality in the current gulf conflict. It's hard not to be "close to the action" when the action is all around you and wearing civilian clothes.
 
Originally posted by R-Me-Doc
It's hard not to be "close to the action" when the action is all around you and wearing civilian clothes.
Click to expand...

Too true.
 
There are a couple of SEAL doctors but they were SEALS prior to going to medical school. Now they just enjoy the sun and sit back and sign paperwork, and maintain their weapon's credentials.
 
Originally posted by Aaron
In what capacity do the Army Special Forces employ physicians? I am a 2LT doing Army HPSP, and I will be an MS1 at UTMB Galveston beginning in August. I would like to do an Emergency Medicine residency, and I really want to be as involved as possible with combat operational medicine. What I really want to do, however, is Army Special Forces medicine. Does anyone know anything about this subject? Any information would be helpful.
Click to expand...

don't feel that you *have* to do EM to do operational medicine. a couple of my classmates are both wanting to do operational medicine, and are doing family medicine at Bragg. they both took elective time to finish flight surgeon's school last fall while 4th year medical students. oringally they both were wanting to do EM, but after rotating through Bragg and talking to the PD there they found that you can get to operational medicine several ways, and they decided to do their residency where the action is, and get involved with it from the get go.
 
The above is definitely true. In my Navy DMO class there were 2 recent FP grads, one internist and a PA, all from the Army. All of them were headed for assignments with Special Operations units, and were being sent to FS and Dive training enroute. The 2 FP guys were fresh out of residency, no prior service. The internist had been a Ranger before medschool and was headed back after a hospital tour, the PA was a Green Beret medic. So the Army does have some good options open to various specialists. The Navy does the same thing. As a DMO, I can reenter the community after residency and a utilization tour, even as a Radiologist. Same is true for senior level flight surgeons. I've known pathologists, radiologists, psychiatrists and others in these positions. EM is not the only "HOOYAH" specialty, though it is the most natural and sought after, so in a competition for the most coveted spots, they'll win. SPECWARDEVGRU aka SEAL team 6 is a classic example of this. They have huge numbers of applicants, a long screening process and they're very specific about what they want..i.e a DMO with a SPECWAR tour who's board certified in EM, and they get exactly that despite prd's, etc. But for the garden variety specwar jobs, many are able. All of the other SEAL jobs are just plain ole DMOs like me.
 
Ok couple questions:

1) If one specifically wanted to do special ops medicine, which would be the best branch to choose?

2) I keep hearing about the physical, what would disqualify you from special ops medicine? I am in excellant shape (college athlete) but I have poor eyesight (not horrible but I have to wear glasses).

3) How difficult is it to get "in the action"? My main concern with HPSP is not getting enough action.

Thanks, I am just now getting ready to apply but I want to be well educated in advance.
 
Hey guys and gals, what's up? Interesting thread here, even though I don't usually post on the military med forums, I am very interested in this operational medicine. I also have some of the same questions as a lot of the people here, been wonderin' what it would take to be a Special Forces, SEALs, or Rangers physician. 😉

I'm not surprised about the DEVGRU requirements, Navy Dive Doc. Those guys are real elites in the SEAL community! Thanks for the info on the FP dudes without any prior service. And thanks especially for letting us all know that we don't have to stick strictly to surgical/EM specialties as well (sorry, I forgot who originally mentioned that) 👍

I also sorta share a question with Ceberus here: I have to wear glasses as well, and while my current physical shape is not up to par with the physically fit, that doesn't mean that I can't change it. How much would that hurt my chances as a SpecOps physician? Anybody who knows can answer here.
 
There are many support roles in the special operations units but they must be and are prepared to be combat soldiers, sailors, and airmen. You won't find an operations level medical officer in a special ops unit that has not at minimum qualified with their weapons. And most are hard chargers who get head of the line priviledges when it comes to attending the most aggressive combat medical schools, where they do teach more than just medicine. Many are airborne qualified, dive qualified, Rangers, ex SF, or even true Seals wearing the Trident from previous service. And most could if need arises pick up most any weapon and use deadly force with accuracy. But don't kid yourself, physicians are right up in the combat zone in many cases, not even to do with special ops. A special ops doc if he wants can be very close to the action. It is not uncommon for a doc to hop on a bird and be right there during a mission even if they are not on the ground Mozambiquing!
 
PACtoDOC said:
And most are hard chargers who get head of the line priviledges when it comes to attending the most aggressive combat medical schools, where they do teach more than just medicine. Many are airborne qualified, dive qualified, Rangers, ex SF, or even true Seals wearing the Trident from previous service.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "combat medical schools"? I thought the only military medical school was USUHS. Is this what you mean? And if so would going there allow me the chance at special ops training (it is my top choice anyway).
 
Cerberus said:
What do you mean by "combat medical schools"? I thought the only military medical school was USUHS. Is this what you mean? And if so would going there allow me the chance at special ops training (it is my top choice anyway).
Click to expand...

There are some specialized courses for "combat medicine". For instance, there is a "Combat Casualty Care Course - C^4) course at Ft. Sam Houston that teaches SF medics and physicians how to deal with combat type injuries - with a "Goat Lab".

Then, the military will also send people to all sorts of non-military specialized courses as well, all over the world. Blast trauma care in Israel, for instance, sending military EM docs to inner-city ED's to get hands on gunshot wound care, etc.
 
flighterdoc said:
There are some specialized courses for "combat medicine". For instance, there is a "Combat Casualty Care Course - C^4) course at Ft. Sam Houston that teaches SF medics and physicians how to deal with combat type injuries - with a "Goat Lab".

Then, the military will also send people to all sorts of non-military specialized courses as well, all over the world. Blast trauma care in Israel, for instance, sending military EM docs to inner-city ED's to get hands on gunshot wound care, etc.
Click to expand...

Excellent🙂 I really hope USU shows me some love.
 
JKDMed said:
What exactly do these operation medicine guys do? I know they don't actually fight.
Click to expand...

The real pointy-end of the spear guys go and deploy with groups of SF fighters, with sufficient medical equipment and skills to stabilize anyone who is wounded in a fight - once they're extracted from the actual shooting.

For instance, there was a trauma surgeon in Mogadishu, Somalia when the whole "Blackhawk Down" episode happened. He'd been training and deploying with the Delta force guys for quite a while, always having to justify the amount of stuff he would want to bring (there's only so much room in a tactical aircraft or helo). After Somalia, there isn't any more pushback about the gear. He provided the initial stabilization of the wounded survivors.

Operational physicians also supervise SF medics, and in the Army they have pretty forward aid facilities - Battalion Aid Stations (usually run by a PA but surgeons can be deployed forward from Combat Support Hospitals). BAS's are usually within 10km of the front (if there is a front), sometimes less. With the war in Iraq they're deploying even smaller surgical teams (a surgeon, a PA and a surgical tech in a Humvee) that are way forward and very, very mobile.

During (relative) peacetime a lot of the staffing is done by nurses or PA's, but when the shooting starts a lot of doctors get deployed into these roles. They can't assign physicians into these roles in peacetime because there isn't enough to keep their skills up - wartime unfortunately is a different matter.
 
So docs in the military can be sent near or even to the front lines, but aren't issued weapons to protect themselves?

Out of curiosity, any idea how many physicians are KIA in recent wars?
 
Docs absolutely carry weapons. They all at minimum carry a 9mm pistol and many in special ops units choose to ignore Geneva Conventions and carry an M16 or better.
 
JKDMed said:
So docs in the military can be sent near or even to the front lines, but aren't issued weapons to protect themselves?

Out of curiosity, any idea how many physicians are KIA in recent wars?
Click to expand...

I read that Maj. Taylor was the first KIA since Vietnam.

~Alli
 
During Desert Storm a flight surgeon with my unit was shot down. Maj Koritz. Can't remember his first name. He was actually one of the few pilot/physicians around at that time. He was a qualified F-15E pilot and elected to deploy as a pilot rather than a FS. Under Geneva Convention rules he couldn't do both. He was a super nice guy. 🙁 The current commander at Landstuhl Army Hosp in Germany was on a chopper that was shot down during DS as well...she was captured and treated pretty badly. She is an Army FS.
 
Since M16s and M4s are considered "small arms", physicians who use them only to defend themselves or the lives of their patients do not lose their protected status under GWS. Docs can lose their protected status (i.e. non-combatant) if they are toting an M60, M240 or M249 (machine guns) or they engage combatants in an other than defensive role.
 
Wow, lotsa responses here since I last showed up! This sounds more interesting the more I hear about it! One of the main reasons I've become interested in this stuff stems from wanting to be able to rough it right with those guys in combat if needed in addition to treating casualties 😀

I'm also not very surprised about having to be prepared to shoot with the airmen/sailors/soldiers/marines, either, after reading this:

http://www.suasponte.com/history/modern/panama/torrijos/1.shtml

It's an account of Operation Just Cause in Panama way back in 1989 - 1990, and it is from an Army Ranger Battalion Surgeon's (M.D.) Perspective. That sufficiently piqued my interest 😀
 
My husband is in Special Ops PM me if you have any ???? but I can say this the physicians that treat these guys are unbelievable....but from my little understanding from being married to one usually docs do not go out with SF teams for they have their own medics. The docs are usually very close by though...
 
Does the previously discussed apply to only docs who elect to do opmed or any doc? I wouldn't mind serving in these situations IF I didn't have a family. While I don't mind, my wife does. 😀

Yes I am whipped.
 
Biodude said:
Wow, lotsa responses here since I last showed up! This sounds more interesting the more I hear about it! One of the main reasons I've become interested in this stuff stems from wanting to be able to rough it right with those guys in combat if needed in addition to treating casualties 😀

I'm also not very surprised about having to be prepared to shoot with the airmen/sailors/soldiers/marines, either, after reading this:

http://www.suasponte.com/history/modern/panama/torrijos/1.shtml

It's an account of Operation Just Cause in Panama way back in 1989 - 1990, and it is from an Army Ranger Battalion Surgeon's (M.D.) Perspective. That sufficiently piqued my interest 😀
Click to expand...

Very interesting read
👍
 
efex101 said:
My husband is in Special Ops PM me if you have any ???? but I can say this the physicians that treat these guys are unbelievable....but from my little understanding from being married to one usually docs do not go out with SF teams for they have their own medics. The docs are usually very close by though...
Click to expand...

Any idea what kind of training these docs go through (i.e. do they go through SF training or what? How trained are they?). Being a perpetually single adrenalin junkie, this sort of appeals to me.
 
Cerberus said:
Ok couple questions:

1) If one specifically wanted to do special ops medicine, which would be the best branch to choose?

2) I keep hearing about the physical, what would disqualify you from special ops medicine? I am in excellant shape (college athlete) but I have poor eyesight (not horrible but I have to wear glasses).

3) How difficult is it to get "in the action"? My main concern with HPSP is not getting enough action.

Thanks, I am just now getting ready to apply but I want to be well educated in advance.
Click to expand...

Poor eyesight is (or has been) a disqualifier for most SpecOps assignments - you can't wear glasses and be jump qualified, or dive qualified, for example, you have to be able to see without aids. The Army is getting into various corrective vision surgeries (LASIK, PRK, whatever) for the troops because it's cheaper than buying them glasses (and the standard US government frame is SO ugly they're called BCG's - birth control glasses). The AF still is down on such surgeries last I checked for all flight (class I and II) catagories.

I don't know about the Navy (and Marines).
 
PACtoDOC said:
Docs absolutely carry weapons. They all at minimum carry a 9mm pistol and many in special ops units choose to ignore Geneva Conventions and carry an M16 or better.
Click to expand...

The Geneva Accords allow medical personnel to carry weapons for their personal defense and protection, and that of the wounded in their care. That generally means no "crew served" weapons, but they certainly can carry a rifle.
 
Keep 'em coming people 🙂

Hmm...I suppose I'm gonna have to get some laser eye surgery when I go and try out for the operational med stuff. As for being attached, I am currently single, and with my looks and personality, it doesn't look like I'm going to get married anytime soon. I wouldn't have a problem joining up on all of this. I wouldn't join the AF anyway unless I was planning on the straight-to-civilian life route.
 
When I was a corpsman with Marine division, we had the choice of a 9mm, or we could carry something heavier like an M16, M60, Saw, Mch19, etc.. Trouble was though that we had to sign a release explaining that if we were to be caught with any of the above weapons and taken prisoner that our Geneva conventions card would not apply. Now since most of us were never concerned with getting taken prisoner, we were more interested in having some heavy firepower. I usually carried the Saw for one of my Marines but we switched back and forth to give him a break. But if we had ever taken fire while I was the one carrying it, I would have been obligated to lay down suppressive fire and my unit4 medical bag would have still been on my back. I also routinely carried Law rockets and grenades as well. I never considered myself anything less than a Marine combatant and I never wore the red cross. In fact in most Marine Divisions, any corpsman worth his weight in salt will carry an M16 and perform like a Marine infantryman until needed otherwise. I always figured if my Marines were to let someone get close enough where I would need my 9mm pistol, I might as well unload the rounds and throw them at em'. Semper Fi to all those jar heads who kept me alive and it was my pleasure to do the same with my skills. Though doctor I will soon be, the tattoo on my left bicep "doc" will always mean more to me than the title physician. "Doc" should be in websters dictionary not to define physician, but one of many medical professions from paramedics to PA's who put the lives of their patients ahead of their own. There are more Navy Corpsmen awarded the medal of honor than any other medical group in all services.
 
Ok I think that I confused some of you'all he he, my husband is not a physician he is in an SF team. He told me that unless you were previously SF tabbed (sp?) like you were an 18D or any other MOS and *then* went to medical school that most physicians that take care of SF soldiers are *not* SF themselves. You can however provide care for SF members at the BN or Group level and if you are the BN surgeon then may even deploy with them. He also said that a physician can deploy to a combat area with a team but will not be with the team. The doc will be close by but usually (unless extreme circumstances arise) will not go on missions with the team, for they (the doc) is a liability for the team. Also all SF teams have an 18D (medic) that can do many things to stabilize the soldier until they can take him to a standby doc. Also, you could get SF tabbed but you cannot be an SF team leader and a doc at the same time. All SF teams only have one officer a CPT that functions as the team leader, one warrant officer, and the rest of the team are enlisted. Clear as mud?
 
This thread is kind of interesting. It brings up one of the many points that I have criticized about military medicine.....using physicians in non-productive way.

Forward deployed units....pointy tip of the spear....or whatever you want to call it....is not a place where a physician can do anything to make a difference in outcome.

Paramedics, EMTs, medic, corpsmen, or any other rescue type worker is what is needed at the frontlines. Injured soldiers near a firefight needs the following things.....pressure over the bleeding wound, morphine for pain, perhaps a needle decompression of a chest, and RAPID evacuation. Nothing that requires a physician.

If being on the frontlines, breaking down doors, shooting bad guys, is what you want to do, then join the special forces....heaven knows, we NEED more operators, so we don't have to contract mercenaries like what we are doing now in Iraq.

If you want to be a medic/corpsmen on the frontlines, then be a medic/corpsmen....don't be a SF wannabe MD/DO whose is a liability to the mission, and where you won't do a bit of good.
 
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