{"id":104433,"date":"2022-04-06T12:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T16:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/?p=104433"},"modified":"2026-03-03T11:01:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:01:59","slug":"object-22-medical-bulletin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-22-medical-bulletin\/","title":{"rendered":"Object 22:\u00a0United States Veterans\u2019 Bureau Medical Bulletin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Title<\/a>
Title page of the inaugural issue of The United States Veterans\u2019 Bureau Medical Bulletin, published in July 1925. (books.google.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the space of just a few years following World War I, the U.S. government created an expansive health system for ex-servicemembers under the direction of a new and independent federal agency, the Veterans\u2019 Bureau. By 1924, the Veterans\u2019 Bureau<\/strong><\/a> operated a nationwide network of forty-four hospitals and seventy-nine clinics that treated many thousands of Veterans suffering from tuberculosis, mental disorders, and other health conditions stemming from their wartime service.\u00a0In March of that year, the bureau recruited twenty-two eminent physicians, specialists, and medical researchers to form a standing Medical Council to advise the agency on medical and administrative matters. One of the recommendations that emerged from the initial meeting of the council in July was that the bureau should publish a monthly medical journal featuring articles from the staff. Twelve months later, the first issue of the United States Veterans\u2019 Bureau Medical Bulletin appeared in print.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journal went hand-in-hand with one of the council\u2019s other recommendations that the Veterans\u2019 Bureau adopted: the launching of a hospital-based clinical research program. Dr. Edgar O. Crossman, the agency\u2019s Medical Director, outlined his ambitions for the journal in his prefatory note to issue number one: \u201cIt is also expected to promote research along practical lines and to present the results of study of the wealth of medical statistics contained in the records of the bureau. It is evident that the field for investigation is unlimited and that the opportunity to make helpful application of the conclusions is unprecedented.\u201d Doctors in the employ of the bureau were expected to submit at least one article per year to the journal. The bulletin also solicited contributions from staff in other positions, ranging from nurses and physical therapists to librarians and hospital managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contents of the Medical Bulletin<\/em> focused on the medical problems that were paramount among Veterans.  Articles on tuberculosis led the way. Throughout the 1920s, Veterans diagnosed with the disease accounted for between twenty and forty percent of the patient population at Veterans\u2019 Bureau hospitals. The 1926 issues of the bulletin devoted just under a quarter of its pages to this subject alone. The following year, the journal published ten major clinical research articles on the topic. Reports on the diagnosis and treatment of Veterans with psychiatric disorders also appeared frequently in the bulletin, particularly as mental illness replaced tuberculosis as the number one cause of hospitalization for former servicemembers. Other ailments that received coverage included syphilis, malaria, cancer, heart disease, and different types of combat trauma. While mainly concerned with clinical and therapeutic issues, the bulletin also served as a clearinghouse for news of professional interest to the agency\u2019s medical staff. It reported on the initiatives of the Medical Council and happenings at Veterans hospitals, as well as on internal conferences and medical meetings hosted by outside organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"First<\/a>
First page of article on Vincent\u2019s stomatitis, a condition better known as \u201ctrench mouth,\u201d from the July 1925 issue. (books.google.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 1930, after the Veterans\u2019 Administration supplanted<\/strong><\/a> the Veterans\u2019 Bureau, the Medical Bulletin <\/em>changed the first part of its name to match that of its parent agency. During the Great Depression, budget pressures forced the journal to shift from a monthly to a quarterly publication schedule. Otherwise, the journal continued without pause until 1944, when it ceased publication altogether. Just two years later, however, the newly formed Department of Medicine and Surgery within VA resurrected the idea of a medical journal, albeit on a much more modest scale. In 1946, VA issued the first in a series of articles called Technical Bulletins<\/em>. In contrast to the earlier journal, which often featured original research by bureau or VA clinicians, the Technical Bulletins<\/em> were primarily educational in nature. The VA published the bulletins to help its doctors stay abreast of important developments in medicine and patient care.

During its 20-year print run, the Medical Bulletin<\/em> served a valuable purpose within the Veterans\u2019 Bureau and Veterans\u2019 Administration by supporting the medical research program carried out by their clinical staffs. The journal provided bureau and VA physicians with a forum for presenting case studies, accounts of promising treatments, and other reports based on their extensive  experience with patients in Veterans\u2019 hospitals. The Medical Bulletin<\/em> also fostered a sense of community among medical practitioners in the two agencies, facilitating the sharing of news and information across the health system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the space of just a few years following World War I, the U.S. government created an expansive health system for ex-servicemembers under the direction of a new and independent federal agency, the Veterans\u2019 Bureau. A medical bulletin was soon published monthly featuring articles from the healthcare staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":117281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[30,24,94,32],"class_list":["post-104433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-100-objects","tag-innovation","tag-veterans-bureau","tag-veterans-health-administration","tag-world-war-i"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-22-medical-bulletin\/","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Object 22:\u00a0United States Veterans\u2019 Bureau Medical Bulletin","url":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-22-medical-bulletin\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-22-medical-bulletin\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/Object-22-Featured-Image.webp?w=300","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/Object-22-Featured-Image.webp"},"articleSection":"History of VA in 100 Objects","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Department of Veterans Affairs (jdt)"}],"creator":["Department of Veterans Affairs (jdt)"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"VA History","logo":""},"keywords":["va research at 100","veterans bureau","veterans health administration","world war i"],"dateCreated":"2022-04-06T16:11:00Z","datePublished":"2022-04-06T16:11:00Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T16:01:59Z"},"rendered":"