(SQIs), additional skill identifiers (ASIs), language identification, and reporting classifications. The MC is one of the Special Branches of the Army, and thus is not classified as a Basic Branch. Special Branches are a grouping of branches and officers primarily concerned with providing combat service support and/or administration to the Army as a whole, but managed separately from USAHRC combat service support branches. (Other Special Branches are the Army Chaplains and the Judge Advocate General.) Entry The most common source of new physicians for the Army are medical students attending civilian medical schools and participating in the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). By so participating they have their expenses paid for them and incur a 4-year service obligation. A smaller number graduate from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland and serve on active duty (as second lieutenants) while students, incurring a seven-year obligation. Some MC officers are accessed via direct commission after completion of specialty or sub-specialty training before entry on active duty. US Army MC specialties The MC consists of 41 areas of concentration (AOC) within officer branches 60, 61 and 62. A young MC officer typically starts out as a general medical officer (GMO) — AOC 62B, essentially qualified as a general practitioner — following completion of the first year of graduate medical education (GME). They may later specialize following completion of residency training in a military (or less often, civilian) program. Later, these physicians may continue with subspecialty training or continue in operational positions providing clinical care, conducting research, or in other positions. The 41 AOC identifiers for the US Army MC are: 60A Operational Medicine 60B Nuclear Medicine Officer 60C Preventive Medicine Officer 60D Occupational Medicine Officer 60F Pulmonary Disease/Critical Care Officer 60G Gastroenterologist 60H Cardiologist 60J Obstetrician and Gynecologist 60K Urologist 60L Dermatologist 60M Allergist, Clinical Immunologist 60N Anesthesiologist 60P Pediatrician 60Q Pediatric Sub-Specialist 60R Child Neurologist 60S Ophthalmologist 60T Otolaryngologist 60U Child Psychiatrist 60V Neurologist 60W Psychiatrist 61A Nephrologist 61B Medical Oncologist/Hematologist 61C Endocrinologist 61D Rheumatologist 61E Clinical Pharmacologist 61F Internist 61G Infectious disease Officer 61H Family Medicine 61J General Surgeon 61K Thoracic Surgeon 61L Plastic Surgeon 61M Orthopedic Surgeon 61N Flight Surgeon/Aerospace Medicine specialist 61P Physiatrist 61Q Radiation Oncologist 61R Diagnostic Radiologist 61U Pathologist 61W Peripheral Vascular Surgeon 61Z Neurosurgeon 62A Emergency Physician 62B Field Surgeon/Battalion Surgeon/General Medical Officer The branch skill codes ("degree of proficiency" designators)