If you always wanted to be a commissioned officer

Medical Laboratory Observer, April, 1994 by Lyn Kidder

A CAREER with the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), the principal health agency of the Federal government, usually follows one of two basic routes. The first is for medical technologists to be employed as civil servants through a number of secondary agencies. Of the nearly 600 technologists employed by PHS, more than half of them work for the Indian Health Service, with the remainder associated with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A second and relatively new career option for medical technologists is to be an officer in the PHS Commissioned Corps.

[] Commissioning med techs. On Jan. 2,1991, the PHS began to commission officers in the field of medical technology. Previously, the Corps was made up of a number of categories of health professionals, including physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, dietitians, and therapists. After the decision to commission medical technologists was announced, 30 applications were received, from which 16 officers were called to duty.

Presently there are several at work in the District of Columbia's psychiatric hospital, St. Elizabeth's; one is with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in California; and one is serving as laboratory consultant for quality assurance for the 22 clinics operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. The rest are assigned to the Indian Health Service, which provides health care services to approximately one million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

[] History. PHS oversees some of the largest public health programs in the world today. An agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, it was created in 1798 by President John Adams, who first recognized the Government's role in protecting the health of its people. The original purpose was to provide medical care for merchant seamen who often arrived in port ill and without resources.

During the next two centuries, PHS researched and worked to eradicate diseases such as pellagra, typhus, polio, smallpox, and an outbreak in 1900 of the bubonic plague in San Francisco. During the 19th century when disease containment was often haphazard, the uniformed officers of the PHS enforced quarantines, inspected incoming ships, and gave health exams to millions of arriving immigrants. Throughout its history, its goal has been "improving and advancing the health of our nation's people."

[] The Commissioned Corps. The PHS Commissioned Corps is a uniformed service comprised of officers who are health professionals. Benefits are similar to those provided to officers in branches of military service, including a similar system of base pay, which is taxable, and quarters and subsistence allowances, which are nontaxable.

Health care is provided for the officer and dependents, and Department of Veterans Affairs benefits, such as survivor and disability benefits, home loans, and education programs, are also available. Officers can also use military post exchanges and officers' clubs. They can travel, on a space-available basis, by military air transport at very low cost. They get 30 days of paid leave each year, and retirement is possible after 20 to 30 years, at 40% to 75% of base pay, respectively.

[] Requirements. Applicants must be U.S. citizens under 44 years of age. Certain medical fitness requirements must be met to insure that officers will be able to perform their duties in various climates without endangering their health or the health of others. Medical technologists must possess a baccalaureate degree from an accredited school and must have completed a medical technology training program that, at the time of training, was accredited by the Division of Allied Health Education and Accreditation of the American Medical Association. In addition, they must possess a current

The authors is laboratory phlebotomist and ASPT-approved instructor at the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, Conn. and unrestricted license, such as ASCP certification or a state license. In the case of new graduates, they must become licensed within I year.

* Appointments. Appointments are initially made to the Reserve Corps, and all officers serve a 3-year probationary period, at the end of which their tour of duty is extended. An officer's entry grade when called to duty is based on education and work experience related to the field. Postgraduate work is given credit, as is training that is received in the military. Salary is, in turn, based on grade. Opportunities for promotion are at various points of education and experience.

* Reality. Although the Corps is a uniformed branch of service, it is not overly "military." For example, most stations designate only 1 day a week when the officers must wear their uniforms. They are also encouraged to wear them when making public appearances or attending training sessions.

The Corps stresses mobility, requiring that members acknowledge that "an officer is subject to assignment wherever needed throughout the PHS." Willingness to move may be a factor in securing promotions, but--unlike the military--abrupt and unwanted moves are not the norm. Many of the stations in the Indian Health Service, for example, are in fairly remote areas, and there would be little advantage to uprooting and reshuffling people who are living and working happily in Shiprock, N.M., or Wolfpoint, Mont. Many of the medical technologists cited mobility as an advantage to the Corps over working for PHS as a civil servant. Opportunities to travel and work on short-term assignments can come through volunteer assignments to disaster areas, such as Florida after Hurricane Andrew or the Four Corners area (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona) during the recent outbreak of Hanta virus.