As war predictably leaves injuries and ailments in its wake, medicine has long maintained a presence both on the battlefield and at hospitals where the wounded come home for treatment. This Report's Topic in Depth examines the role of medicine in war, and presents online resources and information regarding combat-related ailments, and services for active military and veterans. From PBS-NOVA, the first selection is a companion website to a program about an American Combat Support Hospital in Iraq. The website contains an article regarding combat medicine ethics, a Teacher's Guide, a visual tour of archival images from the American Civil War through the current Iraq War, and more (1). The second site, created by Civil War buff Jenny Goellnitz, posts a collection of old photos, and offers some interesting information about Civil War medicine, including a feature on amputation surgery (2). The third site, from the Gettysburg National Military Park, contains several photos and brief information for kids about medicine in the Civil War (3). From the Institute of Medicine, the fourth website presents information and reports relating to the health of veterans and deployed military forces. The site has sections for the Gulf War, Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II, and Deployment Health (4). The fifth site presents the Virtual Naval Hospital, which is a digital health sciences library of Naval and Military medicine. The site has separate sections for patients, providers, and administrators (5). From
[email protected], the sixth site contains a recent article discussing the debate over Gulf War syndrome (6). The seventh site presents Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an international medical relief organization that courageously enters regions of conflict to provide medical aid (7). The final selection is a companion website to a National Geographic television series reporting on the work of Doctors Without Borders. The site features profiles of MSF projects, episode summaries, and interviews with MSF staff and volunteers (8).
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