THE MEDICAL BOARDS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 15 December 1916, Page 8

THE MEDICAL BOARDS

FINDING THE FIT MJSN

BENEFITS OF COMPULSORY EXAMINATION/ . -■■■■ : '/_

Two experienced doctors, each of them. holiiiug the military rank of lieutenant-colonel, constitute a Medical Hoard under tbc Military Service Act. Four of thesis' board?' are -at-work • m New Zealaud at the;.present time,-their task being the examination of. the ineii who ikre' summoned for service with the Expeditionary Forces as compulsory recruits, either tirough' the operation, of Clause 35, or i(i consequence of thfir names having, been drawn in the ballot. The prime duty of the boards is t<s discover the nien who-are fit for serV vice, " but' ;the/o is -'no - :doubt .that this compulsory examination-of a'large section' of' the inanhood ofrthe' country _is going to hi vox important ■ effects quite 'apart froitf' .the. purely.military ,aspect or'the ■ proceedings. ■ . .....v. . The'resen'ists who aro called; up for examination undress in-an outer,.room, where a'record is taken of their names. Then'due by one they';go before the doctors, who do not know;'. them..; by name/at: all, jnd are,.examined critics ally ?nd impartially-as to then- physical condition and* their fitness to -endure the strain of training in.camp and service in tha leld. The majority of them hare had-no-similar experience before. Th'ey learn for the first time in their lires what an unbiased expert' thinks of their" physique and their_ constitutions For some of them it is'a revela. Ltion of weaknesses of which, they knew [nothing; for ' others the examination means' the dissipation .'of idle fears born of. ignorance. . Humiliation awaits the few, who learn the price' that Nature exacts, for. folly-' Very •' miny',' happily for the nation, are-given'the hall-mark, "Fit." '. '• .-, • ...

i'A suit of clothes may. coyer a multitude of physical.sins/'' saiJ a medical officer'iti discussing the iro&.'of the boards.- ' '.'I regard this, examination of . our men as one;, of the national benefits we are deriving from ■the war. Tliejrecruits'are learning the truth about themselves/ and-that is all to the good. Some of them are realising for the first' time' that they' hive neglected their bodies, and- tliat bad living and lack of exercise in-the days of peace have reduced .them to the class of tho weaklings. Sbme' of those men - —many of them,-I hope—havS-left the examination room determined, to.remedy matters if they can. Other, men, «ho thought themselves sound': have discovered that they' have .a serious weakness of-, some' kind,' probably-'" amenable to treatment of a proper; kind.. Tfiere are lots of surprises ln'.ihe'. examination room. I hope that : when' their work is done these boards -will be -asked to prepare a general report upon the health and physical condition of Neir Zealand's men of military with due regard to tho fact.that ever 70.000 .fit.men. have already, lieen taken into the forces in this country." It would he absurd to suggest," of course, that every reservist lvlio is rejected as unfit is a weakling. As a Matter of fact, the doctors have sometimes to reject men who from the hon-ihiii-tary standpoint are first-class specimens of the British breed. -There might ha quo.ted the case of a younj man, big, bronzed, and sturdy, a footballer and a rifle shot, who is ineligible for military.iseryice on account of an old injury to'a joint, 'sustained on the football field. The doctors are sure that he would break down .under. a prolonged strain, jind that it' would be 'useless to send.him .into camp.! But ji'e'n. are no. longer rejected for the minor defects that were field to be disqualificatiQps,iji the. .'earlier.; stages.of.the. V;ar, .and/.it may bb said generally that the work .of, the boards is tending to. sort out the men who are liabilities, instead of assets,-of nation on the physical side:' "