An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

News & Gallery

Articles

News | Feb. 1, 2023

BSC projects readiness at LRMC

Since 1965, a unique group of allied health professionals have comprised the ranks of the U.S. Air Forces’ Biomedical Sciences Corps. At Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), an Army-commanded military treatment facility in Germany, the joint medical team is made up of more than 200 Air Force personnel, of which only a handful are affiliated with BSC.

Each year the Air Force recognizes their accomplishments during Biomedical Sciences Corps Appreciation Week, observed the last week of January.

“It’s kind of a unique corps as far as what it’s comprised of and how we compete for promotion,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Ian Scott, an orthopedic physician assistant at LRMC. “(The corps’) impact is broader spectrum across the medical services.”

According to the Air Force Medical Services, the BSC mission is to provide full-spectrum allied health support to optimize all we serve. The assembly is comprised of 16 various professions ranging from podiatric surgeons and clinical psychologists to physician assistants and biomedical laboratory officers.

“I became interested in becoming a PA while I was enlisted,” recalls Scott, a native of Hermon, Maine. “I did some volunteer work at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and shadowed the PAs.”

Scott, who enlisted in 2006 as a heavy equipment operator, pursued his interests and is now part of the collective-career BSC.

“Orthopedic PAs contribute directly to our warfighter mission at LRMC,” said Scott. “We see everybody coming out of (U.S. Central Command, U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Europe Command for any kind of combat injuries, training accidents and off-duty injuries.”

Physician Assistants across military medicine provide primary and specialty care to various populations and can be embedded to smaller-sized units to provide front-line medical care beyond enlisted medics’ scope of practice.

Another medical field within the BSC are podiatrists who examine and implement treatment for the ankle and foot areas, ranging from corrective medical devices, such as inserts, to surgical intervention.

“Podiatry sees different musculoskeletal conditions of the foot and ankle, lower leg and are able to treat them at LRMC,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Joseph Genualdi, podiatric surgeon at LRMC. “We have different medical dispensing braces, orthotics, boots and surgical management if the injury has failed conservative therapy.”

Because many Service Members are on their feet most of the workday, the clinic at LRMC stays occupied with Service Members in all stages of their careers.

“Service members come in, straight from basic not having been in combat boots before, not having that amount of impact and load with their job. We’ll give them some preventative medicine guidance,” explains Genualdi, a native of Plant City, Florida. “We’ll see patients towards their end of their careers, where they start having more kind of wear and tear issues, arthritis, and we’ll see Service Members in between.”

From invisible wounds to surgery, BSC members continue projecting readiness across the services.
Need to Update Your Information in DEERS? Click Here