from the we'll-do-anything-but-fix-the-underlying-problems dept.

The AP is reporting that the DoD is now recruiting foreign citizens to become medical officers:

WASHINGTON – Struggling to find enough doctors, nurses and linguists for the war effort, the Pentagon will temporarily recruit foreigners who have been living in the United States on student and work visas, or with refugee or political asylum status.

This is incredible news because historically we are not aware that the DoD has ever recruited non-American citizens and foreign medical graduates to become medical officers. What effect will this new policy have on the quality of medical care? What impact will it have on the quality and stability of military graduate medical education?

The Pentagon's doctor and nurse corps remain 1,000 short of the numbers needed to treat patients, and Carr said he hoped the program would fill the gaps.

The military's most pressing need is for neurosurgeons and dermatologists to treat troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with brain and burn injuries caused by insurgents' wide use of roadside bombs and suicide bombs.

The DoD needs to work with medical leaders to create a stable, sound and sustainable medical system for the future instead of viewing it as a competing expense for "bombs and guns". If the issues underpinning the RETENTION problem were addressed, wouldn't that go a long way towards improving recruiting?