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<p>NAVMED P-5075<br><br>After passage of the Selective Service Act of<br>1940, many medical students who were obligated<br>for military service by the Act, indicated<br>their desire to affiliate with the Naval Reserve in<br>order to assure that their period of active duty<br>would be with the Navy's Medical Department.<br>To make this possible and to provide deferment<br>from active duty until graduation, the Ensign,<br>Probationary (Medical) Program was established<br>before the onset of World War II. The<br>first appointments late in 1941 were limited to<br>third and fourth year medical students attending<br>class "A" medical schools. Within a few months,<br>however, the program was expanded to include<br>first and second year medical students, and it has<br>since come to be known as the " Ensign, 1915<br>Program."<br><br>The number "1915" is a designator used within<br>the Department of the Navy to identify officers<br>by a code system. The first three digits-191<br>indicate that the officer is under instruction in a<br>medical school; the last digit- 5 indicates an<br>officer of the Naval Reserve. Thus, 1915 refers<br>to an officer of the Naval Reserve under instruction<br>in an accredited medical school.<br><br>The primary objectives of this program are to<br>provide (1) an opportunity for qualified medical<br>students to affiliate with the Naval Reserve as<br>commissioned officers while still in medical<br>school, regardless of race, creed or national<br>origin; ( 2) assurance that these officers will be<br>able to complete their medical studies and internship<br>prior to fulfiling their obligation for active<br>military duty; (3) assurance that when they do<br>enter service it will be with the Navy's Medical<br>Department; and ( 4) a primary source of qualified<br>candidates for the Naval Intern Program and<br>for the Medical Corps of the Navy and Naval<br>Reserve.<br></p>
<br>Subjects: training; education; military medicine</div>
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U.S. Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery</div>
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