Wartime healthcare basics learned from past battles

Apr 18 2007

America's bloodiest one day battle continues to provide military physicians with wartime healthcare basics more than 140 years after it was fought.

Medical students from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) will participate in a six-mile road march April 26 through the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md., as part of their first-year curriculum.

Originally meant to serve as a means for the students to break in their new combat boots, the field exercise moved from Rock Creek Park near the campus to Antietam and now serves as a means of teaching the students, from a historical perspective, the basic tenets of battlefield healthcare. The former Army Surgeon of the Potomac General Maj. Jonathan Letterman, recognized that care on the front lines, medical logistics and evacuation assets under the direction of a physician were key to delivering battlefield care.

Students march in small groups, stopping at stations along the route to hear local Civil War re-enactors discuss conditions and battlefield strategies and to hear USU faculty members highlight the medical aspects of the battle.

The Battle of Antietam, which took place on Sept. 17, 1862, is considered the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, claiming more than 23,000 men killed or wounded.

USU educates health care professionals dedicated to career service in the Department of Defense and the U.S. Public Health Service. The university provides military and public health-relevant education, research, service, and consultation to the nation and the world, pursuing excellence and innovation during times of peace and war. Many of its graduates are supporting operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, offering their leadership and expertise. Approximately 25 percent of all active-duty military medical officers are USU graduates.

Media interested in attending the Road March should contact the Office of External Affairs at (301) 295-1219 by noon, April 23. For more information on USU, visit our Website at