Warner F. Bowers

The Army Residency Training Program in Surgery

Many times the question is asked, Why should the Army have a residency training program in Surgery? Basically, especially in peace time, an Army surgical service is like any other surgical service, having the same aims of patient care, teaching, and clinical research. These three elements are almost of equal importance so that if one leg of this tripod base is weak, the whole structure is unstable. The mission of the Army Medical Service is conservation of the fighting strength, and from the surgical viewpoint this implies that we must be especially interested and expert in surgery of trauma. Criticism often is based upon incomplete knowledge and understanding of the problems involved. Critics in the service often state that courses in field medicine and greater emphasis on trauma in our residency program would be desirable while civilian inspectors frequently feel on casual glance that we simply duplicate the type of