Military medicine's role in the armed forces and the need to develop specialized education programs in Iran military medicine

Aims: Military forces are exposed to specific diseases and risks due to job conditions. Military medicine operates as an academic discipline related to the health needs of military forces. Specialized military medicine has started its activity almost since the onset of modern warfare in the twentieth century. Considering the world situation including the growing trend of war events, terrorism and natural disasters and also new changes in weapons and war strategies and their side effects, military medicine is evolving nowadays. This review article was written with the aim of evaluating the role, position and approaches of military medicine, assessing the military physicians' curriculum and the evaluating the priority of establishing specialty majors in the field of military medicine in Iran. Conclusion: Military physicians need excellent knowledge, attitude and skill. Nowadays, military medicine has the following approaches: being professional and mobile, resuscitating and stabling the victims at the scene and strengthening pre-hospital measures. Establishing military emergency medicine with a special curriculum is a priority and can provide the needs of armed forces in good accomplishing their tasks. The military medicine departments of military medical universities should plan and design new curriculums with the specialized military medicine approach and develop it based on newly established needs. A specialized physician who has passed the military emergency medicine curriculum will be the best and the most appropriate choice for Iranian armed forces in emergency tasks and conditions.