Women's Health Knowledge and Skills Among Transitional Year Internship-Trained Military Medical Officers Serving as Independent Health Care Providers.

Women comprise 14.5% of active duty service members. Delivery of women's health services is a critical component to personal, medical, and mission readiness. The objective was to evaluate the knowledge, skills, and practices pertaining to basic elements of women's/reproductive health issues among transitional internship-trained general medical officers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force.Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey study of transitional internship-trained graduates from 2012 to 2015 who transitioned to an operational assignment as an independent provider after internship graduation. The survey conveyed that the majority of respondents were comfortable discussing self-administered methods (combined contraceptives); fewer were comfortable discussing or had training to place the more efficacious, longer-acting methods. Although screening services specific to female health are offered, the uniform provision of these basic services appears to be inconsistent among our surveyed population of first-line health care providers. The study identifies potential areas for refinement in transitional year medical training that could translate to enhanced female medical and mission readiness.