No.i.] PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. 23 



3. It will be noted that the officer group as a whole is represented by 44 per cent in the A grade ; the Engineers con- 

 tribute 66 per cent of their total to this grade; the Artillery, 57; Infantry, 44; Quartermaster, 30; while the Medical Corps 

 shows only 27 per cent. In the B grade the representation of the Medical Corps is a trifle above the average, while the 

 Engineers and Artillery are slightly below. In the C grade the average is represented by 24 per cent; the Engineers give 

 only 5 per cent of their strength; the Artillery, 13; the Infantry, 18; the Quartermaster, 28; and the Medical Corps, 40. 

 In other words, in the A grade, which contains 44 per cent of all officers, the Medical Corps is 17 per cent short of the 

 average and has a smaller representation than any other group, the Engineers being two and one-half times as numerous 

 proportionally, in the B grade, the Medical Corps is about equal to the average, while in the C grade ("average private 

 type"), which contains only 24 per cent of the total officers, the Medical Corps is represented by 40 per cent of its 

 Btrength, a far larger proportion than any other group, the Engineers showing only 5 per cent of their number; the Artil- 

 lery, 12; Infantry, 18; and Quartermaster, 28. Comment on these figures is unnecessary. They speak for themselves. 

 The only question is whether or not they represent a true state of affairs. 



4. With reference to the comparative efficiency of the officers of the various arms of the service I am not in a position 

 to judge. I am of the opinion, however, that the order of mentality as shown by the psychological scores is fairly close 

 to the truth. 



It is reasonable to believe that the Engineers have succeeded in attaching to their corps a larger number of techni- 

 cally trained young men than any other branch of the service. It is also probable that the officers' training camps have 

 drawn into the commissioned grades a larger number of college-trained men than either the Quartermaster or the Medical 

 Corps. 



5. As to the question of whether these low ratings of the officers of the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Corps are 

 borne out by the records of the officers as a group, I should say that on the average they are, and this without the slightest 

 disparagement to certain officers of the very best professional type whose services deserve the highest praise. I gained 

 the impression by talking with the division surgeon and the base-hospital commander that there was a fairly large class 

 of medical men who were so incompetent professionally that they could never become efficient medical officers; and I 

 believe that this same state of affairs is true of most other cantonments. There is a sprinkling of medical officers of the 

 highest character and finest professional attainments in every military camp ; a fairly large group of medical men of average 

 ability, and another group, altogether too large, of men who are lacking in early education, in medical training, and in 

 professional skill, who were unable to earn a livelihood before the war and who welcomed the opportunity to receive the 

 stipend of a first lieutenant. These are the men who are bringing down the ratings of the Medical Corps. If continued 

 in the service they will cripple its efficiency and will seriously affect its prestige with the line. 



6. In my opinion the medical department must immediately take steps — first, to weed out the undesirables, and, 

 second, to prevent the entrance of such into the corps. With reference to the first consideration there are three methods 

 by which this may be accomplished: 



(a) Relegation to the inactive list. 



(6) Discharge from the service on recommendation of a board of officers appointed by division commander. (Bulle- 

 tin No. 32, War Dept., 1917.) 



(c) Resignation. 



The first method should not be resorted to except after the failure of the other two; but if an incompetent medical 

 officer can not be gotten rid of by discharge, or if he can not be induced to resign, he should be put on the inactive 

 list, even if such a procedure unduly increases the length of that list. The main object is to rid the Medical Corps of 

 its incompetents. 



7. With reference to the other two methods I recommend that the attention of division surgeons be invited to 

 the necessity of adopting means to separate from the service all members of the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Corps 

 whose records indicate that they will not make efficient officers. The quickest method is resignation. Every possible 

 means to this end should be attempted, and if all fail the officer should be brought before a board, and the division 

 surgeon should insist on the right to name the members. 



8. As to what means should be adopted to keep undesirables out of the service, I believe that the time has come 

 when we must insist on a higher standard of professional ability and must exercise greater care in the selection of 

 candidates. In my opinion every medicalofficer before being commissioned should be required to produce evidence 

 that he has spent a year as house officer in an approved hospital, or has had equivalent practical experience. At 

 training camps some means must be adopted to subject candidates to more rigid scrutiny as to their general intelli- 

 gence and professional attainments. They should be accepted only on probation, the right being reserved by the War 

 Department to discharge them upon the recommendation of the commandant at the expiration of the probationary 

 period. Judging from the results of the psychological examinations at Camp Lee, the adoption of this scheme at med- 

 ical officers' training camps would give the commandant a ready and reliable guide and would furnish information 

 on which further observation could be made. I recommend that steps be taken to initiate some such scheme. 



Henry A. Shaw, 

 Colonel, Medical Corps. 



