Surgeon General of the United States

The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. The Surgeon General's office and staff are known as the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG).

The U.S. Surgeon General is nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by a majority vote of the Senate. The Surgeon General serves a four-year term of office and, depending on whether the current Assistant Secretary for Health is a PHSCC commissioned officer or not, is the senior or second-highest ranking uniformed officer of the PHSCC, holding the rank of a vice admiral. The current Surgeon General is Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, who was confirmed on December 15, 2014.

Responsibilities

The Surgeon General reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH), who may be a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service, Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), and who serves as the principal adviser to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on public health and scientific issues. The Surgeon General is the overall head of the Commissioned Corps, a 6,500-member cadre of health professionals who are on call 24 hours a day, and can be dispatched by the Secretary of HHS or the Assistant Secretary for Health in the event of a public health emergency.

Surgeon general

Surgeon general is a title used in the United States and many areas of the British Commonwealth to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with public health responsibilities. The post originated in the 17th century, as military units acquired their own doctors. In the United States, the chief public health officer is the Surgeon General of the United States and each state has its own State Surgeon General. Moreover, each branch of the American military services has its own surgeon general, with more combat-related responsibilities and experience, hence Surgeon General of the United States Army, Surgeon General of the United States Navy, and Surgeon General of the United States Air Force. Nigeria had a similar position designated Inspector General of Medical Services.

See also

Surgeon-General (United Kingdom)

The Surgeon-General (SG) is the senior medical officer of the British Armed Forces; the post is held by the senior of the three individual service medical directors.

The Surgeon General is the Defence Authority for Healthcare within the Defence Medical Services Department which is the headquarters for the Defence Medical Services. It is a joint service organisation with personnel from all three services and Ministry of Defence civil servants working together to ensure “provision of strategic direction to the Defence Medical Services to ensure coherent delivery of all medical outputs".

As of December 2015 the Surgeon-General was Surgeon Vice Admiral Alasdair Walker.

List of Surgeons-General since 1990

References

Surgeon General (Canada)

The Surgeon General is the professional head of the Canadian military health jurisdiction, the adviser to the Minister of National Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff on all matters related to health, and head of the Royal Canadian Medical Service. The Surgeon General is also the Commander of Canadian Forces Health Services Group, which fulfils all military health system functions from education and clinical services to research and public health. It consists of the Royal Canadian Medical Service, the Royal Canadian Dental Corps, personnel from other branches of the armed forces, and civilians, with health professionals from over 45 occupations and specialties in over 125 units and detachments across Canada and abroad. As Director General Health Services, the Surgeon General is also the senior health services staff officer in the Department of National Defence. The Surgeon General is normally the only Canadian appointed to the Medical Household as Honorary Physician (QHP) or Honorary Surgeon (QHS) to Her Majesty the Queen.