4th Medical Group Celebrates Biomedical Sciences Corps Week

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  • By A1C Kimberly Barrera

To recognize the achievements of Biomedical Sciences Corps (BSC) Airmen, the Air Force has dedicated the week of Jan. 27-31, as BSC Appreciation Week. Throughout the week the 4th Medical Group here set time aside to honor BSC officers and their enlisted counterparts, who are essential to the success of the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS).

 

“The BSC mission provides full-spectrum allied health support to optimize all we serve,” said Lt. Col. Steven Weekes, 4th Operation Medical Readiness Squadron optometrist. “BSC serves military members, retirees, dependents and civilians.”

 

The BSC is the most diverse corps in the AFMS, encompassing 17 different career fields. BSC consists of working professional services in optometry, podiatry, physician’s assistant, audiology/speech pathology, clinical psychology, clinical social work, occupational therapy, aerospace physiology, biomedical scientist, dietetics, bioenvironmental engineering, public health, entomology, pharmacy, biomedical laboratory and health physics.

 

“BSC fills in the gaps of physicians because we provide specialized care, assessments and consultations for areas that may not be specifically addressed during a routine doctor’s visit,” said 1st Lt. Chelsea Lewis, 4th Operation Medical Readiness Squadron public health officer in charge.

 

Outside of routine care, BSC affiliates are behind the scenes performing inspections and testing as well as providing education to prevent illness and injury to the base population, said Lewis.

 

The BSC’s role of optimizing the health of those it serves would not be possible without the support of enlisted Airmen.

 

“Without Airmen to support the BSC mission our operations would fail,” said Lewis. “We rely on Airmen to provide tactical expertise in the programs and identify problems and gaps in the areas that we may miss. By doing so they are effectively supporting and contributing to our decisions as leaders.”

 

BSC week is a chance for officers and their enlisted counterparts to step away from their offices and connect with each other.

 

To celebrate all that BSC officers and their enlisted counterparts do, members from the 4th Medical Group participated in BSC fitness hour, volunteering at a soup kitchen, an escape room challenge and axe throwing.