Time for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) to Raise Its Sights

World J. Surg. 29, S51S54 (2005)DOI: 10.1007/s00268-004-2061-3Time for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS)

to Raise Its SightsBen Eiseman, M.D., James G. Chandler, M.D.Department of Surgery, University of Colorado Health Science Center, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, C-308, Denver, Colorado 80262, USAPublished Online: April 13, 2005The legislative support that Congressman F. Edward Hebert

gathered to create a new Uniformed Services University of the

Health Sciences (USUHS) in 1972 rested primarily on providing a

reliable source of career physicians and nurses for the Armed

Forces [1]. Table 1 summarizes the remarkable success of USUHS over the past 25 years in meeting this goal. Fortunately, the

founding mandate of USUHS envisioned a full academic institution with responsibilities for both undergraduate and postgraduate education (Table 2). In the process of achieving its

primary mission, the school has also won its stars in the eyes of

other public and private health science educational centers. At

this time USUHS (now USU) should leverage this distinguished

record and tread new ground to expand and enhance its support

of the military medical community.We propose that USU develop a Military Medical Think

Tank (MilMeTT), within the structure of the university, to

provide evidence-based staff support to the Surgeons General

and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through

their Senior Military Medical Advisory Council (SMMAC). The

SMMAC was established within the Department of Defense

(DoD), in 2002, to systematize DoD health care decisions, and it

is the is the ideal command structure to task MilMeTT and to

receive its work-product [2]. MilMeTT would be advisory only

and have no independent command structure. The dual credibility of USUHS within both DoD health care and the civilian

academic community uniquely qualifies the school as the ideal

academic administrative framework to oversee MilMeTT and

facilitate its work. MilMeTT will be modeled after existing civilian

commercial and academic think tanks and is conceptually

appropriate to address challenges facing the medical service

commands, as the U.S. military continues to define its evolving

responsibilities from the end of the Soviet threat 15 years ago to

the present [35]. This is, indeed, a sight-raising proposal, but we

believe that a scholarly consultation service in support of the

SMMAC is well within the existing USU mandate and can...