Some doctors say they’ve seen it all. However, that may not be the case when the patient is a veteran.Ā Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to teach health practitioners specific things to look for with veterans from the country’s different wars.
Military members are returning home in large numbers from serving overseas and join older veterans from past battles on line to get a doctor appointment.Ā Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics aren’t prepared to handle that patient volume.Ā Kevin Parks, a former U.S. Army medic who served in Iraq and is a medical student at Robert Wood Johnson, told Staff Writer Todd South that he always asks patients if they’re a veteran.
It would be good to know if he is a Vietnam veteran, Kevin ParksĀ cited the example that when a male patient in his 60s complains of shortness of breath;Ā it’s possible he was exposed to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange, which was used there and has been linked to cancer and breathing problems.
“I really think that in the medical field the professionals ā the doctors, nurses, the people who work hands-on with patients ā do need some generalized information on this,” said Harris, a Vietnam War veteran.
According to VA data, New Jersey has 428,000 veterans, including 312,000 who served in combat. That number could grow as more military members return from Afghanistan and the Middle East with a need for long-term mental and physical health care.
