Survey of U.S. Army commanders' experiences with brigade/battalion surgeons at Fort Hood, Texas.
This anonymous survey sent to every battalion and brigade commander at Fort Hood, Texas assessed the new concept of residency-trained operational physicians that had completed military unique curriculum series training. Commanders provided anonymous professional information about themselves and their assigned physicians and evaluated their physicians in 22 areas of medical and military competence using a linear scoring method from 2 (indicating poor) to 6 (indicating outstanding). Main effects and interaction effects were analyzed using multiple analysis of variance. The commanders' overall confidence in their physicians was 5.4, suggesting general satisfaction. Prior-service physicians were rated higher on several factors if the commander had combat experience. Non-prior-service physicians were rated the same on nearly all variables regardless of the commander's experience. Commanders with combat experience rated their assigned physicians significantly higher than did commanders without combat experience. Despite high ratings, several candid remarks suggest there is still room for improvement.
Hughes
John R
JR
Department of Emergency Medicine, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA.
Miller
Michael A
MA
Farr
Warner D
WD
Hughes
Teresa M
TM
D000328:Adult; D000346:Afghanistan; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003625:Data Collection; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008875:Middle Aged; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D013781:Texas; D014481:United States; D014857:Warfare