The Berry Plan was a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

-era program in the United States that allowed physicians to defer obligatory military service until they had completed

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

and residency training. More than 42,000 physicians and surgeons were affected by the Berry Plan, named after Dr. Frank B. Berry, who served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health and Medical Affairs from 1954–1961. The Plan, enacted in 1954, arose out of a proposed "Doctor's Draft," originally met with objections from the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

, The

Association of American Medical Colleges Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry * Voluntary associati ...

, and the

American Hospital Association The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a health care industry trade group. It includes nearly 5,000 hospitals and health care providers. The organization, which was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1898, with offices in Chicago, Illinois and W ...

, who felt the draft would deprive them of a pool of young men who would staff their hospitals. The Berry Plan offered draftees three choices: entry into the Armed Forces after completing a

medical internship A medical (or surgical) intern is a physician in training who has completed medical school and has a medical degree, but does not yet have a license to practice medicine unsupervised. Medical education generally ends with a period of practical tr ...

, after completing one year of residency and returning to their residencies after completion of service, and after completion of a full residency program. The plan did not promise the branch of service or the length of deferral, rather the applicant was relegated to partial or full deferment. The applicant was also told which branch of the military he or she would be allocated. The applicants were not advised that if they signed before age 25 they would be subjected to two years of active reserve duty after they fulfilled the active military commitment. The applicants were titled "obligated volunteers". The Berry Plan ended in 1973, with the last four physicians to complete their education and training entering the armed forces in 1980.

References

Conscription in the United States United States in the Vietnam War {{military-history-stub

See also

References