Army Medicine: Current Perceptions and Its Use of Public Relations

For over 200 years the Army Medical Department has made outstanding contributions to the practice of medicine throughout the world. While conducting research needed to make these contributions, army physicians, nurses, and support personnel have also participated in the development of the world's largest health care organization. During the period 1980 to 1985, the Army Medical Department came under scrutiny as a consequence of a lack of administrative skills in a few senior Army medical officers and as a result of a concentrated series of articles detailing these flaws. In an effort to ascertain if the AMEDD is currently performing its missions in a competent manner, the Army members of the Class of 1989 were surveyed as to their current perceptions of Army medicine. We were seen as performing poorly in the areas of access to certain services, the numbers of physicians available, the commander's participation in post functions, the military education of our commanders, in our relationship with the media and in the quality of care we provide. It is my assumption that a better working relationship with media, utilizing skilled public affairs officers and a carefully planned public relations plan, would greatly enhance our image by providing more information about what we do well to the population we serve. (sdw)