Medical Service Corps

A Medical Service Corps is a kind of military corps found in branches of the United States Armed Forces that is formally designated to engage in supporting and administrating the provision of medical assistance to soldiers and their families, and to civilians in emergency situations. These include the United States Air Force Medical Service Corps, which is a branch of the Air Force Medical Service; the Navy Medical Service Corps, which is a service of the United States Navy, and the United States Army Medical Service Corps, which is a branch of the United States Army Medical Department. In each branch, the Medical Service Corps is distinct from a medical corps. The focus of the Medical Service Corps is on matters such as logistics and supply, support, and administration, and the provision of services like lab testing, pharmacy, and environmental science, and of medical specialties such as psychiatry and optometry.

United States Air Force Medical Service

The United States Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) consists of the five distinct medical corps of the Air Force and enlisted medical technicians. The AFMS was created in 1949 after the newly independent Air Force’s first Surgeon General, Maj. General Malcolm C. Grow (1887–1960), convinced the United States Army and President Harry S. Truman that the Air Force needed its own medical service.

In the summer of 1949, Air Force General Order No. 35 established a medical service with the following officer personnel components: Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Veterinary Corps, Medical Service Corps, Air Force Nurse Corps, and Women's Medical Specialist Corps.

The AFMS is led by The Surgeon General of the Air Force, who holds the rank of lieutenant general. The AFMS is found in all three components of the Air Force, including the Active Air Force, the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard. Headquartered at The Air Staff, Defense Health Headquarters, Falls Church, VA., AFMS senior leaders can be found in all of the Major Commands and in the Pentagon.

Army Medical Department (United States)

The Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army — known as the AMEDD; formerly named the Army Medical Service, AMS — comprises the Army's six medical Special Branches (or "Corps") of officers and its enlisted medical soldiers. It was established as the "Army Hospital" in July 1775 to coordinate the medical care required by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The AMEDD is led by the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, a lieutenant general.

The AMEDD is the U.S. Army's healthcare organization, not a U.S. Army command. It is found in all three branches of the Army: the Active Army, the U.S. Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard. Its headquarters is at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, which hosts the AMEDD Center and School (AMEDDC&S). Large numbers of AMEDD senior leaders can also be found in the Washington D.C. area, divided between the Pentagon and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC).

The Academy of Health Sciences, within the AMEDDC&S, provides training to the officers and enlisted service members of the AMEDD. As a result of BRAC 2005, enlisted medical training was transferred to the new Medical Education and Training Campus, consolidating the majority of military-enlisted medical training in Fort Sam Houston.

Health care

Health care or healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of health via the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in human beings. Health care is delivered by health professionals (providers or practitioners) in allied health professions, chiropractic, physicians, dentistry, midwifery, nursing, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, psychology, and other health professions. It includes the work done in providing primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care, as well as in public health.

Access to health care varies across countries, groups, and individuals, largely influenced by social and economic conditions as well as the health policies in place. Countries and jurisdictions have different policies and plans in relation to the personal and population-based health care goals within their societies. Health care systems are organizations established to meet the health needs of target populations. Their exact configuration varies between national and subnational entities. In some countries and jurisdictions, health care planning is distributed among market participants, whereas in others, planning occurs more centrally among governments or other coordinating bodies. In all cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a well-functioning health care system requires a robust financing mechanism; a well-trained and adequately-paid workforce; reliable information on which to base decisions and policies; and well maintained health facilities and logistics to deliver quality medicines and technologies.