The Army Medical Corps comprises the physicians of the U.S. Army. In recent years, the Medical Corps' rate of recruitment has not been able to keep up with the pace of separations. Retention is down. In this report, the authors examine alternative strategies for the Army Medical Corps to ensure that it has access to the personnel it needs to support operational requirements.

Reimagining the Army Medical Corps

Five Ideas for Raising Recruitment, Restoring Retention, and Restructuring Requirements

Edward W. Chan, Michael G. Mattock, Patricia K. Tong, Lawrence M. Hanser, Christina Panis, Sarah Baker

ResearchPublished Sep 3, 2024

The Army Medical Corps comprises the physicians of the U.S. Army. In recent years, the Medical Corps' rate of recruitment has not been able to keep up with the pace of separations. Retention is down. A larger-than-expected proportion of Army physicians who have fulfilled their active-duty service obligation are separating rather than extending their careers and, possibly, serving until they are eligible for military retirement. This trend results in positions at military treatment facilities and other units being unfilled, compromising the Medical Corps' ability to fulfill its missions, whether in deployed operations or in caring for service members and other beneficiaries at home.

In this report, the authors examine alternative strategies for the Army Medical Corps to ensure that it has access to the personnel it needs to support operational requirements. The authors consulted with subject-matter experts and gathered and analyzed data to help identify five courses of action (COAs) that could increase retention, increase accessions, or reduce the requirement for uniformed physicians.

Key Findings

In collaboration with the Army Office of the Surgeon General, the authors identified the following five COAs

  • Increase ancillary and administrative support staff. This could improve retention by improving support and reducing the administrative burdens.
  • Expand military-civilian partnerships. This could improve retention by reducing the concern over degradation of skills. It may also improve recruitment by presenting an attractive set of possible places to work.
  • Widen options to serve as an Army physician. This could improve recruitment and retention by promoting skill retention and improving pay through arrangements that include some degree of civilian employment.
  • Expand Army-sponsored Graduate Medical Education. This could improve recruitment by offering students a higher chance of matching with certain programs.
  • Reshape Army community hospitals. This would restructure the Army's requirement for uniformed physicians.

These COAs are not quick fixes, and data on their effectiveness are limited

  • A significant limitation of the COAs presented in this report is that they will take time to implement, as well as time to realize downstream effects on the Medical Corps force strength. If the Army needs to move quickly to maintain the personnel level of the Medical Corps, the most direct thing it could do would be to incentivize officers through monetary incentives to stay rather than to separate.
  • The biggest limitation of the COAs presented is that there is little hard data to indicate their effectiveness because these ideas have not been implemented with the intent of increasing retention or recruitment.

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Citation

RAND Style Manual
Chan, Edward W., Michael G. Mattock, Patricia K. Tong, Lawrence M. Hanser, Christina Panis, and Sarah Baker, Reimagining the Army Medical Corps: Five Ideas for Raising Recruitment, Restoring Retention, and Restructuring Requirements, RAND Corporation, RR-A2119-1, 2024. As of September 11, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2119-1.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Chan, Edward W., Michael G. Mattock, Patricia K. Tong, Lawrence M. Hanser, Christina Panis, and Sarah Baker, Reimagining the Army Medical Corps: Five Ideas for Raising Recruitment, Restoring Retention, and Restructuring Requirements. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2119-1.html.
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This research was conducted within the Personnel, Training, and Health Program of RAND Arroyo Center.

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