Total navy recruit health: making our sailors fit for the fleet

Naval Hospital Great Lakes, Branch Medical Clinic, Recruit Training Command is the Navy's only recruit inprocessing point in the country. The clinic will medically inprocess approximately 54,000 new Navy recruits this year. In fiscal year 1995, the clinic inprocessed approximately 44,000 recruits, 35,000 males and 9,000 females. The Navy Medical Department is very concerned about total Navy recruit health. This includes a check on the present state of health of all sailors and teaching sailors how to stay healthy and take care of themselves during their naval careers. Navy medicine is also an integral part of the recruit training experience. Recruit training at Great Lakes is 9 weeks in duration. This article will describe the Navy's recruit medical inprocessing procedure to include the Sailor's Health Inventory Program, the Navy/Air Force Medical Entrance Test, immunizations, optometry, audiology, wellness education, gynecological examinations, medical assessment, and laboratory tests.