Principal Medical Officer is a senior position in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

, the

Army Medical Corps (India) The Indian Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the Indian Army which primarily provides medical services to all Army personnel, serving and veterans, along with their families. Early history Very little is known of the medical organisatio ...

NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

and the Irish Health Service Executive. The title was formerly used within the British

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and the health services of former colonies. James McGrigor was appointed Principal Medical Officer of the Portuguese Army during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. A position of Principal Medical Officer in the Crimea was established from 1854 to 1856 for the duration of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...

made suggestions as to the duties of the post. The position still existed in England and Wales until the 1974 reorganisation. The title is still used in

. The

St John Ambulance in England St John Ambulance is a volunteer-led, charitable non-governmental organisation dedicated to the teaching and practice of first aid and the support of the national emergency response system in England. Along with St John Ambulance Cymru, St Joh ...

formerly had a Principal Medical Officer position. In Australia the position was the senior administrator of the Medical Department of each state from 1895, when it was created as part of the Colonial Secretary's Department, replacing the position of Colonial Surgeon, to 1911. The superintendents of hospitals reported to the Principal Medical Officer. The position still exists within the

Civil Aviation Safety Authority The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is the Australian national authority for the regulation of civil aviation. Although distinct from the government, it reports to the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. CASA is responsibl ...

. The term is still used in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

References

{{reflist Royal Army Medical Corps Health officials Health care occupations Military medicine