University Medical College - Scalpel Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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Washington, D. C., giving professional and moral qualificationsg if these are satisfac- tory and there exists a vacancy, the Surgeon General will probably order the applicant to report to the nearest military post for examination as to his physical and mental fitness to fill the position to which he aspires. A commission is to be preferred should the applicant contemplate adopting the U. S. Army as a permanent field for his medical careerg should he successfully pass the mental and physical examination, he is issued a commission, with the rank of First Lieutenant, the pay being one hundred and twenty-five dollar per month, after five years' service he is entitled to take the examination for the rank of captain, which pays one hundred and fifty dollars per monthg the ranks of Major, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and Brigadier General are successively attained by right of seniority, the Sur- geon General is selected by the President from the ranks of the Brigadier Generals on the active list. To him all reports go, he dictates the policy of the medical department of the U. S. Army and is held responsible for the efficiency thereof. Commissioned officers can be discharged only for cause and then not without the right of trial by court martial. At the age of sixty-two, any officer, if he so desires can retire upon half pay, which amount he continues to draw till his death. All commis- sioned -officers receive ten per cent in addition to their regular pay, for every five years service up to forty per centgg after that there is no increase. Socially, the life of the army officer is not unpleasant, particularly so, while sta- tioned at a large post, here he finds much in the receptions, parties, balls and club to help while away what might other-wise be dull and tedious hours if stationed at a Western or so-called frontier post. Much time can be pleasantly spent in pursuits of the rod and gun. Everything considered, I should say that the life of the army surgeon c-ompares favorably with that of the physician in private practice. 'Tis true, he can never aspire to the high honor of being great, as a physician or surgeon for the limi- tations that naturally surround his sphere of work preclude the possibility of his being able to compete with his more favored brother engaged in private practice, the word compete is used here with reference to opportunity, it is obvious that the physician in private practice in a large city with modern hospitals, large clinics and a large clien- tele to draw from, has a much better opportunity to develop his skill and perfect his technic than has the- army surgeon in his more restricted field. I admit that a few army surgeons have carved their names high upon the altar of fame, but these are the exception and n-ot the rule, a large majority of the truly great, in medicine and surgery, came from the ranks of the physicians in private practice. In ch-oosing one's life work, no matter what the sphere, one important point should be constantly born in mind, viz., that of personal adaptabilityg certain attributes -of character are peculiarly requisite in one to insure a successful military careerg chief among these may be mentioned a thorough command of one's self, for often times, or- ders from a superior officer, harshly given, will prompt the inner feeling to revolt and require all the -strength of a strong nature to subdue. He should next ask himself: Would he be content to lead a roving life with no fixed place that he could call home? Possessed of thorough self-command, and the last question answered in the affirma- tive, I think, other things being equal, no young man will make a mistake in choosing a medical career in the U. S. Army.

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Ellie Armg Snrgenn ' BY A. W. NlcARTHUR, M. D., Lecturer on Minor Surgery and Surgical Dressings. Vi writing an article for the U. M. C. Year Book upon the subject of The Army 1 5 Surgeon, I hardly know where to begin nor where to leave off, for the subject is l-4 one so varied in its aspect that to cover the ground- thoroughly would make an article much too long for the purpose for which it is intended, however, briefly, I will endeavor to present a few facts and figures depicting the advantages and disvantages of a career in the medical department of the U. S. A., for the average young man who has but rcently come into possession of the much coveted D. degree. The medical department of the U. S. A. is probably more civic in character than that of any other branch of the service and to begin with will say, that any young man imbued with the spirit of a military career and whose enthusiasm is inspired by the God of War,'i would do well to pause and ponder e'er he enter upon the life of a sur- geon of the U. S. A. 'Tis true, there might come a time, once more when the clarion notes of the bugle call, to arms reverberates through the land and the fires of pa- triotism kindled in the breast of every true American, then the army surgeon's life would change from that of a hum-drum existence in some isolated post to an active one at the front, upon the field of battle, but this is an eventuality that should only be considered as a possibility and not by any means as a certainty. Entrance to the medi- cal service of the U. S. A. can be had in two ways, viz., by contract or by commission. A contract is made, as arule,for one year, unless sooner terminated by the Surgeon General, the pay under a contract is one hundred and fifty dollars per month, which never varies, as does that under a commission, the allowances are those of a First Lieu- tenant, these consist of mileage at seven cents per mile when traveling under orders, quarters, fuel and feed for horse, when mounted, everything else must be paid for by the Surgeon, such as expense of mess, uniforms, etc., bachelor officers usually mess together and thirty dollars per month would be a fair estimate of the expense to each man, uniforms probably would average twenty dollars more per month, leaving one hundred dollars to pay other expenses which vary, more or less, according to the char- acteristics of the particular individual, from the above figures it is seen that a thrifty young man could probably lay away nine hundred dollars per year at least. In times of peace the tour of service is ordinarily arranged so the surgeon spends from six to twelve months at a post, the intent being to transfer him from one post to until he has made the rounds, foreign service is the first to which the contract is usually assigned, this being a two years tour of our island possessions, the work is executive as well as professional in character, when stationed at a post, the has charge of the post hospital, is responsible for the efficiency of the service, the safe care of the property, every item of which is charged to him and must be ac- counted for, the hospital corps is also under his direct supervision, the member-sv of which he must instruct in drill, lectures, etc., professionally, he has charge of all enlisted men at the post, the officers, their families, civilian employes and their fami- lies, he is als-o permitted to answer calls outside of the confines of the post, when it does not conflict with his military duties, in this way he can pick up a few extra dol- lars. Some of the principal objections to a contract, in my mind, are: First, the holder, if disabled in line of duty has no pension rights, second, he can be discharged at any time with or without cause, and third, all desirable assignments are usually given to com- missioned officers. Application for a contract should be made to the Surgeon General, another surgeon surgeon

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Natinnal Lbuarh-Armg, Zliielh mth Glamp Sanitation BY J. THOMAS PITTAM, M. D., Lecurer on Pharmacy. , 1 HE importance of the medical department of the national guard, as compared with i its other staff departments has been somewhat neglected, but recently the ten- dency 1S to iecognize that department in its true value and give to it more in- ' 1 dependence and power. The statistics of the wars and of the pension department prove that if we could prevent this tremendous and unnecessary loss of life from disease, this country would save in pensions alone in less than twenty years the entire cost of each war. Recent discoveries in sanitation and modern knowledge of bacteriology enable us to eliminate preventable diseases. If a large army be called together hastily in the summer time without proper medical organization, where it can exercise the power of direction and supervision unless it is elevated and fortified with the power necessary to carry out its purposes, there will in a very short time prevail a miserable and wretched condition in that army. It must either have the proper organization or must take the consequences. Every death from preventable disease is an insult to the intelligence of the age, when it occurs in an army it becomes a state crime. This country in the hour of danger expects every soldier if necessary to lay down his life in its defense and honor. It should there- fore give him the best sanitation and the best medical supervision that can be had, and the power to enforce its demands. The medical officer who selects his camp with the foresight of a sanitary engineer and who regulates the camp drainings, and the location of the latrines, who inspects water supplies, food and its preparations, the soldiers' and their cleanliness, and avoids the epidemic of typhoid fever, dysentery and diarrhea which have decimated armies in the past, serves his country better than he who presides over the wards filled with disease, who often through weary days or months of 'suffer- ing, are invalided home or returned to the fighting line in a weakened condition. Ow- ing to the short time state troupes spend in camps of instruction it is difficult to im- press them with the necessity of sanitary discipline, and sanitary organization. The Japanese would never have won that series of brilliant victories unless they had their army in the most magnificent physical condition, and they would not have been in that condition if they had not had the most thorough sanitary government, and medical or- ganization that any army has ever yet had in all history. The medical organization should be the advance agents of an army. The condition of the country from a sanitary standpoint should be known as well as strategically. And if known and used to advan- tage will afford its possessors an advantage over his opponent. Surely, as our citizen soldiers are the backbone of this country and are as good as any in the world, they should have provisions for their health and lives inferior to none in the world. The med- ical officer should be omnipresent. He should be in the front of the army as well as in the rear. He should be with the first screen of scouts, with his microscope and chem- icals, testing and labeling wells so the army to follow would drink no contaminated wa- ter. Every town or hamlet should be examined in its sanitary condition, known in ad- vance of the army, so that contagion and infection, if found, can be isolated and the ap- proaching troups warned. The medical officer should accompany foraging parties and be with the commissariat officers inspecting the various foods, fruits and vegetables sold by the natives along the line of march, long before the arrival of the army, if the