Enabling future military medical education and training

Abstract

Major advances in injury care have been fostered as a natural consequence of war. Likewise, the culmination of each conflict has been associated with a subsequent decrement in trauma care knowledge and experience secondary to the impact of competing health care priorities, loss of institutional knowledge, and perhaps, most importantly, a lack of lead emphasis. This lack of emphasis by senior civilian and military leaders to effectively advocate for resources has left our US military medical forces ill-prepared to respond to the next pandemic, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, or war. For us to fight and win our nation's wars, we must have immediate support to continue to evolve and improve our medical capabilities. An essential aspect of US military medicine is the partnerships with foreign nations that enable the sharing of lessons learned and technologies that enhance health care delivery during conflicts. Only through appropriate allocation of resources, continuing partnerships between the United States and our international medical partners, and the development and application of new technologies will US military medicine be able to adequately support the warfighter in future conflicts with near-peer adversaries.