Document Information
Maintaining Military Medical Skills During Peacetime
Outlining and Assessing a New Approach
Military medical personnel are tasked with fulfilling both the benefits mission and the readiness mission of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Currently, most military medical personnel are stationed at military treatment facilities (MTFs) during peacetime, where they maintain their clinical skills by treating beneficiaries of TRICARE, the military health care program. However, the medical skills required during deployment are likely to differ significantly from those required at MTFs. Alternative arrangements for maintaining medical skills for deployment may be needed. One alternative would be to station some military medical personnel in nonmilitary settings where the case mix might more closely resemble the expected case mix under deployment, such as emergency rooms or trauma centers. This study explored one model under which active-duty personnel would be assigned to civilian settings during peacetime, focusing on civilian receptiveness to the proposed arrangement and identifying potential barriers and concerns. Findings indicate that civilian medical organizations are generally receptive to the idea of such a model and that DoD could consider conducting a pilot study to assess the effectiveness of the model in improving military medical readiness.
See Also:
Support RAND Research — Buy This Product!
Paperback Cover Price: $22.50
Discounted Web Price: $20.25
Pages: 56
ISBN/EAN: 9780833042910
Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.
RAND makes an electronic version of this document available for free as a public service. If you find this information valuable, please consider purchasing a paper copy of the full document to help support RAND research.
Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience.
Contents
Chapter One:
Introduction
Chapter Two:
Model for Maintaining Military Medical Skills in Civilian Health Care Facilities
Chapter Three:
Feasibility from the Civilian Standpoint
Chapter Four:
Advantages and Disadvantages from DoD’s Perspective
Chapter Five:
Implementing a Pilot Study
Chapter Six:
Summary and Conclusion
This research was sponsored by the Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. It was conducted jointly by the RAND Health Center for Military Health Policy Research and the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute. The latter is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community.
This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND monographs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
* RAND research is conducted across divisions, centers, and projects; these organizational components are represented in the "Related RAND Divisions" section above.


Top