U.S. Army
Medical Corps
The oldest medical organization in the United States. From Jonathan Letterman inventing battlefield triage at Antietam to MASH surgeons in Korea to 97% survival rates in Afghanistan, Army physicians have set the standard for trauma medicine in every war. The Medical Corps keeps soldiers alive when everything else has failed.
World Wars to Vietnam
1917 - 1975
WWII
EVERY THEATER
Penicillin
First Mass Military Use
Blood
Banking System
4%
Case Fatality Rate
670K
WOUNDED TREATED
World War II transformed military medicine. Army physicians pioneered the mass use of penicillin, established the military blood banking system, advanced surgical techniques for trauma and burns, and reduced the case fatality rate to 4% - down from 8% in WWI. Over 670,000 wounded soldiers were treated. Army doctors performed surgery in evacuation hospitals within miles of the front line, in field hospitals on Pacific islands, and in general hospitals that handled the most complex cases. Military medicine became the most advanced trauma system in the world.
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MASH
KOREA · VIETNAM
MASH
Mobile Army Surgical
2.5%
Korea Fatality Rate
Dustoff
Helicopter MEDEVAC
Golden
HOUR CONCEPT
The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital brought operating rooms within miles of the fighting - surgeons working in tents, performing life-saving surgery on casualties who arrived by helicopter minutes after being wounded. In Korea, MASH units dropped the case fatality rate to 2.5%. In Vietnam, Dustoff helicopter MEDEVAC and forward surgical capability meant a wounded soldier could be in surgery within the golden hour. Army physicians in Vietnam pioneered trauma surgery techniques that civilian emergency medicine adopted wholesale.
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GWOT - The 97% Survival Rate
2001 - 2021
OIF / OEF
97% SURVIVAL RATE
97%
Survival Rate
DCS
Damage Control Surgery
TCCC
Tactical Combat Cas Care
Role 3
COMBAT HOSPITALS
In Iraq and Afghanistan, Army physicians achieved a 97% survival rate for casualties who reached medical care - the highest in the history of warfare. Damage control surgery, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, tourniquets pushed to point of injury, walking blood banks, and a medical evacuation system built around the golden hour saved soldiers who would have died in any previous war. Army Medical Corps physicians and surgeons operated in Role 3 hospitals around the clock during surge operations. The survival rate is the Medical Corps' legacy.
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USUHS
BETHESDA, MD
1972
Established
MD
Medical Degree
Military
Medical Education
All
SERVICES ATTEND
The Uniformed Services University - the nation's military medical school in Bethesda, Maryland - trains physicians specifically for military service. USUHS graduates are medical officers who understand operational medicine, combat casualty care, and military leadership from day one. Unlike civilian-trained physicians who enter through HPSP scholarships, USUHS graduates are already military officers when they begin residency. The school produces physicians who are soldiers first and doctors second - exactly what the Medical Corps needs.
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WALTER REED
BETHESDA, MD
MAJ Reed
Yellow Fever Research
1909
Hospital Opened
WRNMMC
National Mil Med Center
Every
PRESIDENT TREATED
Major Walter Reed proved that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes - a discovery that saved more lives than any battle in Army history and made the Panama Canal possible. The medical center bearing his name has treated every president and the most severely wounded service members from every conflict since 1909. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center remains the flagship of military medicine - where the most complex trauma cases, amputee rehabilitation, and medical research converge.
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249
Years of Service
97%
GWOT Survival Rate
AMEDD
Army Medical Dept
Conserve
Fighting Strength