The Surgeon General is the chief medical officer of the United States. The position was created by Congress in 1798 and has been held by a number of eminent physicians, including Dr. Walter Reed, who discovered that yellow fever was spread by mosquitoes.
The Surgeon General is responsible for ensuring that our nation’s health care system operates efficiently and effectively. This includes overseeing public health initiatives, making recommendations on how to improve public health programs, and educating Americans about their health.
To become a Surgeon General, you will first need to obtain a degree from an accredited medical school. This can take up to four years to complete depending on whether your school has a traditional or accelerated program for students who have already completed an undergraduate degree.
You can then go on to complete an internship in one of many specialties within medicine (such as internal medicine or pediatrics). You’ll need to take at least three years of residency training after you graduate from medical school before applying for your board certification exam through the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Once you receive your certification, you’re eligible to apply for jobs at hospitals or other health care facilities around the country!
How To Become A Surgeon General
The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. The Surgeon General’s office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), which is housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.[1]
The U.S. surgeon general is nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The surgeon general must be appointed from individuals who are members of the regular corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and have specialized training or significant experience in public health programs.[2] However, there is no time requirement for membership in the Public Health Service before holding the office of the Surgeon General, and nominees traditionally were appointed as members of the Public Health Service and as Surgeon General at the same time. The surgeon general serves a four-year term of office and, depending on whether the current assistant secretary for health is a commissioned corps officer, is either the senior or next most senior uniformed officer of the commissioned corps, holding the rank of a vice admiral.[3][4] The current surgeon general is Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy.
Contents
- 1Responsibilities
- 2History
- 3Service rank
- 4List of surgeons general of the United States
- 5See also
- 6Notes
- 7References
- 8External links
Responsibilities
The surgeon general reports to the assistant secretary for health (ASH), who may be a four-star admiral in the commissioned corps, and who serves as the principal advisor to the secretary of health and human services on public health and scientific issues. The Surgeon General is the overall head of the commissioned corps, a 6,500-member cadre of uniformed health professionals who are on call 24 hours a day and can be dispatched by the secretary of HHS or the assistant secretary for health in the event of a public health emergency.
The surgeon general is also the ultimate award authority for several public health awards and decorations, the highest of which that can be directly awarded is the Surgeon General’s Medallion (the highest award bestowed by board action is the Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal). The surgeon general also has many informal duties, such as educating the American public about health issues and advocating healthy lifestyle choices.
The office also periodically issues health warnings. Perhaps the best known example of this is the surgeon general’s warning label that has been present on all packages of American tobacco cigarettes since 1966.[5] A similar health warning has appeared on alcoholic beverages labels since 1988.[6]
