Military medicine

The term military medicine has a number of potential connotations. It may mean:


 * A medical specialty, specifically a branch of occupational medicine attending to the medical risks and needs (both preventive and interventional) of soldiers, sailors and other service members. This disparate arena has historically involved the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases (especially tropical diseases), and, in the 20th Century, the ergonomics and health effects of operating military-specific machines and equipment such as submarines, tanks, helicopters and airplanes. Undersea and aviation medicine can be understood as subspecialties of military medicine, or in any case originated as such. (The American Board of Medical Specialties does not, however, certify or recognize a specialty or subspecialty of “military medicine”.)


 * The planning and practice of the surgical management of mass battlefield casualties and the logistical and administrative considerations of establishing and operating combat support hospitals. This involves military medical hierarchies, especially the organization of structured medical command and administrative systems that interact with and support deployed combat units. (See Battlefield medicine.)


 * The administration and practice of health care for military service members and their dependents in non-deployed (peacetime) settings. This may (as in the United States) consist of a medical system paralleling all the medical specialties and sub-specialties that exist in the civilian sector. (See also Veterans Health Administration which serves U.S. veterans.)


 * Medical research and development specifically bearing upon problems of military medical interest. Historically, this encompasses all of the medical advances emerging from medical research efforts directed at addressing the problems encountered by deployed military forces (e.g., vaccines or drugs for soldiers, medical evacuation systems, drinking water chlorination, etc.) many of which ultimately prove important beyond the purely military considerations that inspired them.

Historical significance
The significance of military medicine for combat strength can be judged based on the fact that in every single major war fought until the late 19th century disease claimed more soldier casualties than did enemy action. During the American Civil War (1860–65), for example, about twice as many soldiers died of disease as were killed or mortally wounded in combat. The Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) is considered to have been the first conflict in which this ratio was reversed, at least in the German coalition army which lost 3.47% of its average headcount to combat and only 1.82% to disease. In new world countries, such as Australia, the United States and Canada, military physicians and surgeons contributed significantly to the development of civilian health care.

Canada

 * Royal Canadian Medical Service

United States

 * Military Health System
 * Military Medicine, academic journal
 * TRICARE
 * Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences


 * U.S. Army


 * 68W, the "combat medic"
 * Army Medical Department
 * Battalion Aid Stations
 * Borden Institute
 * Combat Support Hospital
 * Fort Detrick
 * Fort Sam Houston
 * Forward Surgical Teams
 * Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
 * Medical Corps (United States Army)
 * Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
 * Surgeon General of the U.S. Army
 * Textbook of Military Medicine (1989–2007), published by the U.S. Army
 * U.S. Army Dental Command
 * U.S. Army Medical Command


 * U.S. Navy


 * Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy
 * U.S. Navy Dental Corps
 * U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman
 * U.S. Navy Medical Corps
 * U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps
 * U.S. Navy Nurse Corps


 * U.S. Air Force


 * Aeromedical evacuation (United States)
 * Surgeon General of the U.S. Air Force
 * U.S. Air Force Medical Service

France

 * French Defence Health Service

Germany

 * Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service

Russia

 * Military Medical Business, academic journal
 * Museum of Military Medicine

Serbia

 * Military Medical Academy

United Kingdom

 * Medical Assistant, Royal Navy
 * Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
 * Royal Army Medical Corps
 * Medical Support Officer
 * Combat Medical Technician
 * Surgeon-General (United Kingdom)

Australia

 * Australian Army Medical Units, World War I
 * Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
 * Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps

Israel

 * Logistics, Medical, and the Centers Directorate
 * Medical Corps (Israel)

Vietnam

 * Vietnam Military Medical University (Học Viện Quân Y) in Hanoi