The large-scale introduction of women into the U.S. Army in World War II eventually extended to the Army Medical Department. Except for Army Nurse Corps personnel, women had not previously been used in any uniformed capacity in the Medical Department. The establishment of the Women`s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later changed to the Women`s Army Corps (WAC) made a fundamental change in the manner in which the Medical Department viewed and used female military personnel. In addition, the introduction of women military personnel significantly altered the nature of the health issues that the Medical Department had to address because female medical care differed from that provided to male military personnel. These new challenges that confronted the Medical Department during World War II are addressed in Mattie E. Treadwell`s The Women`s Army Corps, a volume in the Special Studies series of the U.S. Army in World War II, that was originally published by the Office of the Chief of Military History in 1954. Chapter XIX, "The Medical Department (ASF)," covers the issues, policies, and programs in the introduction of female enlisted personnel in the Medical Department. Chapter XXXI, "Health and Medical Care," deals with the health issues and medical care of female military personnel.
Chapter XIX -- The Medical Department (ASF)
Chapter XXXI -- Health and Medical Care
In the near future, information will be to this section on the first commissioned women physicians who served in the Army Medical Corps and Medical Department during World War II.
John T. Greenwood
Chief, Office of Medical History
Directorate of Health Care Operations
Office of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army
9 August 2005
