Link (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/21/military.perks.reut/index.html)

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The U.S. Army has long lured recruits with the slogan "Be All You Can Be," but now soldiers and their families can receive plastic surgery, including breast enlargements, on the taxpayers' dime.

The New Yorker magazine reports in its July 26th edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free -- something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills.

"Anyone wearing a uniform is eligible," Dr. Bob Lyons, chief of plastic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio told the magazine, which said soldiers needed the approval of their commanding officers to get the time off.

Between 2000 and 2003, military doctors performed 496 breast enlargements and 1,361 liposuction surgeries on soldiers and their dependents, the magazine said.

The magazine quoted an Army spokeswoman as saying, "the surgeons have to have someone to practice on."
I'm not quite sure what to think about this.

... that's odd. Sorry for the self-bump, but testing something. edit: Ok, just ignore me. I'm delusional. =)

Well...

I find it hard to begrudge doctors, who could probably have a much better career outside of the military, a little on-the-job training. I find it hard to begrudge the folks who are volunteering to put their lives on the line. Probably many of them have disfigurations. Our nation's military is made up of our nation's poor children by and large. Ones that have no hopes of college education, ones that come from areas with no jobs. Rich kids whose mommies and daddies get their noses fixed and teeth straightened don't enlist in the army.

I guess that is another way to look at it.

Some General has been watching too much Nip/Tuck !

But anyway, seems like a good idea to me. Gives the army surgeons something to do and some real practice, and is a nice benefit to the men and women who serve. Sounds win/win to me. As for it being "on the taxpayers dime" well... i'm sure the military surgeons etc arent being paid extra for doing it, so the actual cost would just be materials... anesthetic, stiches, implants(!)... not really that much when purchased in bulk.

Of course it would be silly to fly the doctors to the Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, or somewhere else that needs skilled medics to save lives. I assume I'm also right in thinking that army hospitals don't usually provide any treatment to US civilians except in states of emergency, even if civilian facilities cannot meet the urgent needs of a patient.

Probably one way to attract doctors to the military is to get them on the job training in something like plastic surgery, that will be a lucrative profession after their military stint.

Sounds like a win win situation to me.

This is my weapon, these are my guns. Or um,...bazookas.

/jiggle

LOL! Chenier. :)

yea, thats just what I want.....a doctor practicing plastic surgery on me.


I can see it now.....an army of Michael Jacksons.

Well...

I find it hard to begrudge doctors, who could probably have a much better career outside of the military, a little on-the-job training. I find it hard to begrudge the folks who are volunteering to put their lives on the line. Probably many of them have disfigurations. Our nation's military is made up of our nation's poor children by and large. Ones that have no hopes of college education, ones that come from areas with no jobs. Rich kids whose mommies and daddies get their noses fixed and teeth straightened don't enlist in the army.

I guess that is another way to look at it.

Heh, the Doctors really aren't doing so bad in the military. 125-150k worth of medical school paid for...and they get paid on top of that (officer's pay isn't *that* bad), and they don't have to worry about insurance while they are in.

And there are plenty of children of well to do families serving in the armed forces.

That being said, let em have their plastic surgery. For all the reasons listed.

I wonder how hard it is crawling through the trenches with a pair of double D's...

I'm guessing that the practice is for situations like we're in now:

so you go through med school and residency, you get lots of practice reconstructing parts of the anatomy....then you sit in an office looking at sniffles and broken noses for 10 years.

Then a war happens. And people are getting seriously maimed. And there are body parts that need to be rebuilt into something resembling the human anatomy.

Let 'em give boob jobs and nose jobs to the folks who want 'em. Then, when the soldier comes home with half his face blown off, at least the surgeon doing the procedure won't be hopelessly out of practice.

Doing it on my dime? I say my dime is worth it. (I won't go into the details of how expensive it would be to have non-military docs do the procedure, which would still be paid for by taxpayers through the military medical insurance system (tri-care). Just figure add a layer of bureaucracy on top of the medical needs, and that's how much more tax dollars would go to do the same procedure).

I wonder how hard it is crawling through the trenches with a pair of double D's...


Try it out and report back! Seriously, I doubt they'd let anyone get ones THAT big. I'm guess they're doing reconstructive surgery or probably trying to match up seriously mismatched boobs, which is not at all uncommon.

Seriously, I doubt they'd let anyone get ones THAT big.
Well yeah, but it wouldn't have been funny then!

match up seriously mismatched boobs

For the women that crawl through the trenches and just go in circles? :devil-lau *duck*

Oh my. I would say let them go ahead and do it. If these people want to take the chance. My husband is in the military, so we've had dealings with these military doctors. I certainly wouldn't trust them with my looks. I might end up with my boobs on my forehead. :eek:

Very appropriate smiley. =)

lol...

:rolling: