Hospital Corpsman Job Description

The Navy Hospital Corps

The supply corps and nurse corps are professional corps within the U.S. Navy. The hospital corps is one of the few exceptions to the rule, as commissioned officers make up the majority of the professional corps. A Navy hospital corpsman is an enlisted male or female sailor who is also a doctor.

" The responsibilities of a Navy corpsman are sometimes more than that of a military medic. The Navy hospital corpsmen receive their training at the Medical Education and Training Campus.

The BMTCP trains Air Force medical technicians and Navy corpsmen over a three-month period. Navy corpsmen learn about emergency, nursing and primary care during their initial training. Navy corpsmen are trained to be emergency medical technicians and learn basic life support, field medical care and essential nursing procedures.

Navy corpsmen serve in a variety of hospital environments, including aboard ships, submarines, and in aviation squadrons. Navy corpsmen can serve as nurse assistants in hospitals or assistants in medical clinics. Navy corpsmen at sea may be the only medical support on their ships.

In the Marine Corps, Navy corpsmen are often infantry units providing casualty care. Many Navy corpsmen attend advanced medical technician training courses to concentrate on a particular medical specialty. A Navy corpsman may become a pharmacy technician.

The Marine Hospital Corps

Hospital corpsmen work in a wide variety of capacities and locations, including shore establishments such as naval hospitals and clinics, aboard ships, and as the primary medical caregivers for sailors while underway. Hospital corpsmen are the only medical care-givers in many Marine units. Hospital corpsmen perform duties assistants in the prevention and treatment of disease and injury and assist health care professionals in providing medical care to sailors and their families.

They can be clinical or specialty technicians, medical administrative personnel or health care providers. They are battlefield corpsmen with the Marine Corps and they also provide emergency medical treatment to include initial treatment in a combat environment. The responsibility of independent duty aboard ships and submarines may be assigned to qualified hospital corpsmen.

There were The hospital corpsmen who served throughout the fleet earned distinction the Western Front with the Marine Corps. The Secretary of the Navy terminated the corpsman rating on September 29, 2016

The Navy restored the use of ratings in late December of 2016 after much backlash from the enlisted naval ranks. The Navy changed the names of the hospital corps. The new titles were Hospitalman Recruit, Hospitalman Apprentice, Hospitalman, Hospital Corpsman Third, Second, and First Class.

The Navy Hospital Corpsman: A Soldier's Perspective

The Navy has a long history of exceptional Hospital Corpsman. Navy Corpsmen are also part of ground fighting units within the Marine Corps and the Navy and Marine Corps Special Operations and Special Warfare Communities. They work side by side with their Navy and Marine Corps fighters in combat zones.

The Navy Corpsman who have earned the distinguished Medal of Honor for their bravery above and beyond the call of duty are twenty-three. The Corpsman's devotion to their fellow Sailors and Marines is second to none, often risking their own lives to save another fellow military member or civilian. A hospital corpsman can be either a clinical or specialty technician or a medical administrative or health care provider.

They are battlefield corpsmen with the Marine Corps and provide emergency medical treatment in a combat environment. Hospital corpsmen can be assigned independent duty at isolated duty stations where there is no other medical officer. The Navy medical field has advancement opportunities only for enlisted corpsman's who want to learn new skills.

The Pay of a Navy Corpsman

A Navy corpsman is delivering health care to sailors. The hospital environment is where most corpsmen work. Others are trained to work in different operational environments aboard ships or submarines.

Emergency and regular medical care is provided to Marines and other Navy personnel in the field by Corpsmen assigned to U.S. Marine units. Navy corpsmen help with surgery. Some fields that they specialize in are preventive medicine, patient transportation, medical equipment maintenance, search and rescue and ophthalmology.

Some corpsmen receive training to provide health care to the Fleet Marine Force while others are trained to operate room technicians. The Navy corpsman has some duties. A corpsman may supervise shipboard and field Sanitation as part of a preventive medicine program.

Corpsmen can work in a variety of specialties, including surgical technician, dental and dental lab work, emergency medicine, respiratory therapy, and a nuclear medical technologist. Helping physical therapists and dentists are other specialties. Navy corpsmen who become dental assistants work in preventive dentistry, making dental X-rays and assisting in dental procedures.

Others are qualified to make and fit dental devices. Others work as pharmacy technicians. The pay for a Navy corpsman depends on the corpsman's rank and time in the Navy.