United States Public Health Service

The United States Public Health Service ( PHS) is an authority in the Ministry of Health of the United States. It is subject to the Surgeon General of the United States.

Establishment and organization

This organization was founded in 1798 as a loose network of hospitals, to ensure the health of American seamen. 1798 a law was enacted which should ensure the supply of sick and injured members of the Merchant Navy. The first Marine Hospital was located in Boston. Other hospitals were founded somewhat later along inland waters such as the Great Lakes, and to the coastal towns of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific coast.

1870, the loose network to a more centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service was converted. The headquarters was in Washington, D.C. John Maynard Woodworth, who led the organization in the 1870s, this institution organized on the basis of the military. Members of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a sub-organization that occurs in the field, since wear uniform, which corresponds to the naval uniform; this corps is one of the seven Uniformed Services of the United States.

Initially, doctors were only employed in this organization, also dentists who were urgently needed in the return of war veterans in 1919, specialists in hygiene issues, pharmacists, nurses and scientists were added during the 20th century. By 1939, the Public Health Service was under the Ministry of Finance because he was formerly entertained financially by special charges of seafarers.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Between 1932 to 1972 Tuskegee Syphilis Study was conducted by the USPHS in the area of Tuskegee (Alabama ). In this case, low-income blacks were examined for the course of untreated syphilis. As drugs to combat the disease were available, they were not provided to the subjects available. Instead, they were told they had " bad blood ". The Presidents Clinton and Obama later apologized for this study.

Uniforms and ranks

At the uniforms special badge to be used. Although the members of the Corps wear navy uniforms, they are not soldiers, but non-combatants under the Geneva Conventions.

The ranks in the PHS Commissioned Corps are (in brackets of comparable rank of Navy):

• Junior Assistant ( Ensign )
• Assistant (Lieutenant Jr Grade)
• Senior Assistant ( Lieutenant)
• Full ( Lieutenant Commander)
• Senior ( Commander)
• Director ( Captain )
• Assistant Surgeon General (Rear Admiral ( lower) )
• Assistant Surgeon General (Rear Admiral ( upper) )
• Deputy Surgeon General (Rear Admiral )
• Surgeon General ( Vice Admiral )
• Assistant Secretary for Health ( Admiral )