Military Health History: Resources for Use at the Point of Care

Document Type

Editorial

Publication Date

11-1-2019

Identifier/URL

40993519 (Pure); 31674742 (PubMed)

Abstract

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) oversees the nation's largest integrated health care system, providing care to 9 million veterans at more than 1,000 locations.1 One of the four statutory missions of the VA is the education and training of clinicians to enhance the quality of care provided to veterans. The nation's academic institutions and the VA have a long-standing, close relationship, and the VA has the largest training program for health care professionals in the United States. In 2018, about 120,800 trainees in more than 40 disciplines received some or all of their clinical training in the VA2; however, many of these trainees are not familiar with aspects of military service that affect health and wellness. Also, many clinicians outside of the VA or military are unaware of the importance of specific aspects of the military health history. In one study, more than one-half of family physicians reported never or rarely asking about military service and rated their knowledge as inadequate, but 60% believed knowing veteran status was important to provide better care.3 In another study, internal medicine residents rotating in VA medical centers scored low on knowledge of military sexual trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder

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