Surgeon General of the United States | |
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![]() Seal of the United States Public Health Service, 1798 | |
![]() Flag of the United States Surgeon General | |
Public Health Service Public Health Service, Commissioned Corps | |
Reports to | Assistant Secretary for Health |
Seat | Hubert H. Humphrey Building, United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Washington, D.C. |
Appointer | The President with United States Senate advice and consent |
Term length | 4 years |
Formation | March 29, 1871 |
First holder | John M. Woodworth (as Supervising Surgeon) |
Website | www.SurgeonGeneral.gov |
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) which is housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. [1]
The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), also referred to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, is the federal uniformed service of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), and is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States.
Public health has been defined as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the health of a population and the threats it faces is the basis for public health. The public can be as small as a handful of people or as large as a village or an entire city; in the case of a pandemic it may encompass several continents. The concept of health takes into account physical, psychological and social well-being. As such, according to the World Health Organization, it is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a federal republic in North America, composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories and several island possessions. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president and the federal courts, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.
The U.S. surgeon general is nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The surgeon general must be appointed from individuals who (1) are members of the Regular Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and (2) have specialized training or significant experience in public health programs. [2] The surgeon general serves a four-year term of office and, depending on whether the current assistant secretary for health is a Public Health Service commissioned officer, is either the senior or next most senior uniformed officer of the commissioned corps, holding the rank of a vice admiral. [3] [4] The current surgeon general is Jerome Adams, having taken office on September 5, 2017. [5]
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which, along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C.
Vice admiral is a three-star commissioned naval officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, with the pay grade of O-9. Vice admiral ranks above rear admiral and below admiral. Vice admiral is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general in the other uniformed services.
The surgeon general reports to the assistant secretary for health (ASH), who may be a four-star admiral in the commissioned corps, 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 uniformed 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.
Admiral is a four-star commissioned naval flag officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below fleet admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health Service do not have an established grade above admiral. Admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the other uniformed services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps has never had an officer hold the grade of admiral. However, 37 U.S.C. § 201 of the U.S. Code established the grade for the NOAA Corps, in case a position is created that merits the four-star grade.
The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The office was formerly Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
The surgeon general is also the ultimate award authority for several public health awards and decorations, the highest of which that can be directly awarded is the Surgeon General's Medallion (the highest award bestowed by board action is the Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal). The surgeon general also has many informal duties, such as educating the American public about health issues and advocating healthy lifestyle choices.
The Surgeon General’s Medallion is the third highest award of the Public Health Service and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The medal is awarded in the name of the United States Surgeon General for actions of exceptional achievement to the cause of public health and medicine. It is awarded by the Surgeon General of the United States.
The Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal is the highest decoration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
The office also periodically issues health warnings. Perhaps the best known example of this is the surgeon general's warning label that has been present on all packages of American tobacco cigarettes since 1966. [6] A similar health warning has appeared on alcoholic beverages labels since 1988. [7]
Tobacco package warning messages are warning messages that appear on the packaging of cigarettes and other tobacco products concerning their health effects. They have been implemented in an effort to enhance the public's awareness of the harmful effects of smoking. In general, warnings used in different countries try to emphasize the same messages. Warnings for some countries are listed below. Such warnings have been required in tobacco advertising for many years, with the earliest mandatory warning labels implemented in Iceland in 1969. Implementing tobacco warning labels has been strongly opposed by the tobacco industry, most notably in Australia following the implementation of plain packaging laws.
The Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act (ABLA) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub.L. 100–690, 102 Stat. 4181, enacted November 18, 1988, H.R. 5210, is a United States federal law requiring that the labels of alcoholic beverages carry a government warning.
In 1798, Congress established the Marine Hospital Fund, a network of hospitals that cared for sick and disabled seamen. The Marine Hospital Fund was reorganized along military lines in 1870 and became the Marine Hospital Service—predecessor to today’s United States Public Health Service. The service became a separate bureau of the Treasury Department with its own staff, administration, headquarters in Washington, D.C, and the position of supervising surgeon (later surgeon general). [8]
The Marine Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the United States Merchant Marine, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries. The Marine Hospital Service evolved into the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
After 141 years under the Treasury Department, the Service came under the Federal Security Agency in 1939, then the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in 1953, and finally the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Some surgeons general are notable for being outspoken and/or advocating controversial proposals on how to reform the U.S. health system.[ citation needed ] The office is not a particularly powerful one, and has little direct statutory impact on policy-making, but Surgeons General are often vocal advocates of precedent-setting, far-sighted, unconventional, or even unpopular health policies.
The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force also have officers overseeing medical matters in their respective services who hold the title Surgeon General.
The insignia of the surgeon general, and the USPHS, use the caduceus as opposed to the Rod of Asclepius.
The surgeon general is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and by law holds the rank of vice admiral. [3] Officers of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are classified as non-combatants, but can be subjected to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Geneva Conventions when designated by the commander-in-chief as a military force or if they are detailed or assigned to work with the armed forces. Officer members of these services wear uniforms that are similar to those worn by the United States Navy, except that the commissioning devices, buttons, and insignia are unique. Officers in the U.S. Public Health Service wear unique devices that are similar to U.S. Navy staff corps officers (e.g., Navy Medical Service Corps, Supply Corps, etc.).
The only surgeon general to actually hold the rank of a four-star admiral was David Satcher (born 1941, served 1998–2002). This was because he served simultaneously in the positions of surgeon general (three-star) and assistant secretary for health (which is a four-star office). [14] John Maynard Woodworth (1837–1879, served 1871–1879), the first holder of the office as "Supervising Surgeon", is the only surgeon general to not hold a rank.
# | Name (birth–death) | Photo | Term of office | Appointed by (term) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start of term | End of term | ||||
1 | John M. Woodworth (1837–1879) | ![]() | March 29, 1871 | March 14, 1879 | Ulysses S. Grant ![]() (1869–1877) |
2 | RADM John B. Hamilton (1847–1898) | ![]() | April 3, 1879 | June 1, 1891 | Rutherford B. Hayes ![]() (1877–1881) |
3 | RADM Walter Wyman (1848–1911) | ![]() | June 1, 1891 | November 21, 1911 | Benjamin Harrison ![]() (1889–1893) |
4 | RADM Rupert Blue (1868–1948) | ![]() | January 13, 1912 | March 3, 1920 | William Howard Taft ![]() (1907–1913) |
5 | RADM Hugh S. Cumming (1869–1948) | ![]() | March 3, 1920 | January 31, 1936 | Woodrow Wilson ![]() (1913–1921) |
6 | RADM Thomas Parran Jr. (1892–1968) | ![]() | April 6, 1936 | April 6, 1948 | Franklin D. Roosevelt ![]() (1933–1945) |
7 | RADM Leonard A. Scheele (1907–1993) | ![]() | April 6, 1948 | August 8, 1956 | Harry S. Truman ![]() (1945–1953) |
8 | RADM Leroy Edgar Burney (1906–1998) | ![]() | August 8, 1956 | January 29, 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower ![]() (1953–1961) |
9 | Luther Terry (1911–1985) | ![]() | March 2, 1961 | October 1, 1965 | John F. Kennedy ![]() (1961–1963) |
10 | William H. Stewart (1921–2008) | ![]() | October 1, 1965 | August 1, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson ![]() (1963–1969) |
N/A | RADM Richard A. Prindle (c. 1926–2001) Acting Surgeon General | August 1, 1969 | December 18, 1969 [15] [16] | Richard Nixon ![]() (1969–1974) | |
11 | Jesse Leonard Steinfeld (1927–2014) | ![]() | December 18, 1969 [17] | January 30, 1973 [18] | |
N/A | RADM S. Paul Ehrlich Jr. (1932–2005) Acting Surgeon General | January 31, 1973 [19] | July 13, 1977 | ||
12 | VADM Julius B. Richmond (1916–2008) | ![]() | July 13, 1977 | January 20, 1981 [20] | Jimmy Carter ![]() (1977–1981) |
N/A | RADM John C. Greene (1936–2016) Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | January 21, 1981 | May 14, 1981 | Ronald Reagan ![]() (1981–1989) |
N/A | Edward Brandt Jr. (1933–2007) Acting Surgeon General | May 14, 1981 | January 21, 1982 | ||
13 | VADM C. Everett Koop (1916–2013) | ![]() | January 21, 1982 | October 1, 1989 | |
N/A | ADM James O. Mason (1930–) Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | October 1, 1989 | March 9, 1990 | George H. W. Bush ![]() (1989–1993) |
14 | VADM Antonia C. Novello (1944–) | ![]() | March 9, 1990 | June 30, 1993 | |
N/A | RADM Robert A. Whitney (1935–) Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | July 1, 1993 | September 8, 1993 | Bill Clinton ![]() (1993–2001) |
15 | VADM Joycelyn Elders (1933–) | ![]() | September 8, 1993 | December 31, 1994 | |
N/A | RADM Audrey F. Manley (1934–) Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | January 1, 1995 | July 1, 1997 | |
16 | ADM [14] / VADM David Satcher (1941–) | ![]() | February 13, 1998 | February 12, 2002 | |
N/A | RADM Kenneth P. Moritsugu (1945–) Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | February 13, 2002 | August 4, 2002 | George W. Bush ![]() (2001–2009) |
17 | VADM Richard Carmona (1949–) | ![]() | August 5, 2002 | July 31, 2006 | |
N/A | RADM Kenneth P. Moritsugu (1945–) Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | August 1, 2006 | September 30, 2007 | |
RADM Steven K. Galson (1956–) Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | October 1, 2007 | October 1, 2009 | ||
RADM Donald L. Weaver Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | October 1, 2009 | November 3, 2009 | Barack Obama ![]() (2009–2017) | |
18 | VADM Regina Benjamin [21] (1956–) | ![]() | November 3, 2009 [22] | July 16, 2013 | |
N/A | RADM Boris Lushniak Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | July 17, 2013 | December 18, 2014 | |
19 | VADM Vivek Murthy (1977–) | ![]() | December 18, 2014 | April 21, 2017 | |
N/A | RADM Sylvia Trent-Adams Acting Surgeon General | ![]() | April 21, 2017 | September 5, 2017 | Donald Trump ![]() (2017–) |
20 | VADM Jerome Adams (1974–) | ![]() | September 5, 2017 | Incumbent |
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Surgeon general is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with public health responsibilities. The title originated in the 17th century, as military units acquired their own physicians.
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The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, has the authority to issue various awards, commendations, and other insignia to its members. These include individual honor awards, unit honor awards, service awards, training ribbons, special skill badges, and identification badges. The following PHSCC awards are listed in the service's order of precedence:
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