He Ceased to Be a Doctor

Sir,?I trust that it is not too late for a short reply to the ideas set forth under this heading by MajorGeneral Ogilvie in your issue of March. Major-General Ogilvie asks "Has the medical soldier really ceased to be a doctor? " Surely the answer depends on the extent to which his medical work and function are subordinated to, or affected by, the requirements of the service to which he belongs. Obviously the demands of the Army may on occasion be highly prejudicial to the realization of the ideals of medical service. The references to " a knowledge of tactics," "knowledge of military organization and administration," " medical arm," serve but to show the emphasis laid on the purely military aspect of the " medical soldier's" work. The latter term infers that he is a soldier first, and a doctor second; (is there a difference between "army doctor" or "army surgeon" and " medica-1 soldier"?). From General Ogilvie's own showing, the working out of these ideas of tactics and military organization must have a tremendous influence on the nature of medicine and medical work in the Army. Instead of a free untramelled profession, delighting in the freedom and infinite scope of its own service to the individual and the community as a whole, we have it beset with restrictions, which are necessarily dictated by military requirements. The burden is felt in the increase of time and energy which has to be devoted to organization and administrative activities? all largely due to the exactions of the combatant arms.