The PROFIS or Professional Filler System is used by the United States Military to fill voids in personnel when a unit deploys on a combat or humanitarian mission. Due to the high financial cost of employing physicians, civil engineers, lawyers or other "high dollar specialists" in a military unit, usually at the
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...
and sometimes at the
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
...
level a full time "specialist" is not permanently assigned to these units. When a unit deploys to an austere location, the demand for a specialist increases. The military's solution is to have a PROFIS or assigned specialist to these units that only serves with the unit when they deploy.
The system is mostly used for assigning physicians and other medical providers to a unit. Medical professionals are usually assigned to military hospitals or clinics, where they see patients, exactly like civilian providers. When a unit deploys, a provider is pulled from his or her hospital job and assigned with the unit. A PROFIS provider usually deploys with the unit for the duration of that unit's deployment. That usually means the PROFIS physician is with the unit a month before deployment, through the duration of the deployment (12–15 months), and then three months after the deployment. Usually physicians (family medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine) are assigned to these lengthy deployments. As a unit surgeon, the physician can expect to do administrative as well as clinical duties. Many times the physician is 60% administrator and 40% clinician.
Medical and surgical subspecialists may be assigned PROFIS to
combat support hospitals (CSH). These deployments may be shorter than deployment time for primary care physicians. Additionally, a CSH functions like a hospital, which means these physicians basically do the same job they do in
CONUS
''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species a ...
(the continental United States), but they do the job in a combat theater.
[ Army Medical Department (AMEDD), "Training, history, education, FAQ"; Available from http://www.amedd.army.mil/]
Footnotes
{{Reflist
References
*Gillett, Mary C. (1995)
''The Army Medical Department, 1865-1917'' Washington, DC: Center of Military History, United States Army. (Series: Army Historical Series)
*Hume, Edgar Erskine (1943), ''Victories of Army Medicine: Scientific Accomplishments of the Medical Department of the United States Army'',
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
:
Lippincott Lippincott may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'' a 19th-century literary magazine published in Philadelphia, U.S.
* Andy Lippincott, a fictional character in the comic strip ''Doonesbury''
* "Lippincott", a song by Anima ...
.
*Tobey, James A. (1927), ''The Medical Department of the Army: Its History, Activities and Organization'',
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
:
Johns Hopkins Press
The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...
; Reprint:
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
:
AMS Press, 1974.
:''This article also contains information that originally came from US Government publications and websites and is in the public domain. The External links is where most information is resourced''
External links
Military medical organizations of the United States