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 up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

and sometimes at the

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, 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 ...

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 hospital A Combat Support Hospital (CSH, pronounced "cash") is a type of modern United States Army field hospital. The CSH is transportable by aircraft and trucks and is normally delivered to the Corps#United States, Corps Support Corps area, Area in s ...

s (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 venomous and predatory cone snails.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&i ...

(the continental United States), but they do the job in a combat theater. Army Medical Department (AMEDD), "Training, history, education, FAQ"; Available fro

/ref>

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 ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

: Lippincott. *Tobey, James A. (1927), ''The Medical Department of the Army: Its History, Activities and Organization'',

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Johns Hopkins Press 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 publish ...

; Reprint:

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

AMS Press The Augustan Reprint Society was a book publisher founded in 1946, based in Los Angeles, California. The Society has reprinted many rare works, drawn largely from the collections of the William Andrews Clark Library at University of California, Lo ...

, 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