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Is there any shorter way to say "military medical personnel"?

I mean by that: all the people in the armed forces that are allowed to use medical equipment on a daily basis.

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  • Is there some reason why it might exisist a shorter way to say that? Apr 24, 2012 at 8:12
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    It all depends on how quickly you say the words. Apr 24, 2012 at 8:30
  • @Matt - JR also agree with me as he say it might be better to use the longer form. In this case speak slow is better. Apr 24, 2012 at 9:54

2 Answers 2

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In the military, personnel assigned to the medical field are often called medics. So, if enough context was provided – that is, if it was obvious we were talking about military personnel – you could use that word.

Sergeant Smith won't be in this morning; she is seeing a medic.

Alternatively, you could use the word corpsman, but that word is reserved for enlisted personnel, so that word would exclude military doctors.

Sergeant Smith, how was your appointment this morning?
Good, the corpsman gave me some ibuprofen. Everything's fine.

These words aren't perfect, though. As you can see, medic is sometimes restrained to combat corpsman. From an online dictionary:

medic |ˈmedik| (n.) informal a medical practitioner or student. • Military a medical corpsman who dispenses first aid at combat sites.

corpsman |ˈkôrmən| (n.) an enlisted member of a military medical unit.

With that in mind, it might be better to use the longer form you provide:

All military medical personnel must receive CPR training annually.

This would include, presumably, all military doctors, pharmacists, etc. – people who might be assumed excluded if the term medic or corpsman were used.

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  • This is not an answer, but a discussion returning on OP's question. Hence -1.
    – user19148
    Apr 24, 2012 at 11:30
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    @Carlo_R. "With that in mind, it might be better to use the longer form you provide: All military medical personnel must receive CPR training annually," seems to be the tl;dr answer. The rest of the discussion simply leads up to that.
    – zpletan
    Apr 24, 2012 at 13:35
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    corpsman is a specific word for enlisted medical personnel of the US Navy, who serve with the US Navy or US Marine Corps. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_Corpsman
    – Tristan
    Apr 24, 2012 at 18:59
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    @Tristan is correct, corpsman is Navy and it's offshoot, the Marines. Medic is Army and it's offshoot, the Air Force
    – Kevin
    Apr 24, 2012 at 19:52
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Is there any shorter way to say "military medical personnel"?

I mean by that: all the people in the army that are allowed to use medical equipment on a daily basis.

You should clarify your question. You mentioned "military medical personnel" which would mean medical personnel of armed forces in general. But, you also used the word army, which would mean just medical personnel in an army and not, medical personnel of armed forces in general.

In the general sense, the words "military medical personnel" would be fine. In the particular example of medical personnel in an army, the words "army medical personnel" would be fine.

Sometimes, people say "medics" as an informal way to refer to medical personnel. In a military context, "medics" means enlisted medical personnel in particular.

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  • You're right, I've clarified my question.
    – syntagma
    Apr 25, 2012 at 13:05

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