Military doctors say they’re not getting enough hands-on experience for combat care
In a Department of Defense Inspector General Report, military medical personnel interviewed said they don’t feel qualified to care for troops on the battlefield due to a lack of hands-on experience.
Patty Nieberg
Published Jun 26, 2025 9:21 AM EDT
Trauma surgeons and nurses attached to the 8th Forward Resuscitation Surgical Team, 18th Medical Command (Deployment Support), perform surgery on a simulated casualty during a field training exercise on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, February 27, 2020. The Defense Health Agency’s Operational Medical Systems Program Management Office has a robust blood products portfolio focused on far-forward, austere environments. OPMED PMO’s Cryopreserved Platelet program commercial partner recently received U.S. Food and Drug Administration “Fast Track” designation for its CPP treatment protocol, which is being developed for use when conventional platelets are not available or are in short supply. The designation, granted under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, is designed to expedite the development and review of drugs that address serious conditions and have the potential to fill an unmet medical need. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Duval/Caption by OPMED Strategic Communications)
Military doctors and nurses are not getting enough hands-on patient care, leaving them ill-prepared to care for troops in combat and causing them to separate from service altogether, according to a federal watchdog.
“Because Army and Navy medical personnel are not consistently assigned where they can sustain their wartime readiness skills, they may not provide high quality, point-of-injury care to service members during deployments,” a Department of Defense Inspector General report released this
The problem was most acute for Army and Navy personnel, compared to the Air Force. According to the report, emergency and trauma-focused medical officers were assigned to locations “that do not provide opportunities for direct patient care.” Instead, based on IG observations and conversations with medical personnel, they were assigned to one of the seven Navy fleets, a Marine Corps unit or Army Forces Command, where they saw a low volume of relevant cases and situations that lacked medical complexity.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/military-medicine-combat-care-shortfall/
