What your role could involve.
Medical Support Officers( MSOs) provide essential Health Service Support( HSS) to both the Royal Air Force Medical Services and the wider Defence Medical Services. As an MSO you can be employed across a range of healthcare sectors including Primary, Secondary or Tertiary care, or you may be in a role that spans across several healthcare sectors.
Regardless of role, you will have an understanding of how healthcare services are developed and delivered, at all levels, within both the military and civilian environments.
Within the sectors themselves MSOs, as healthcare professionals, are expected to fulfil a wide variety of HSS functions including:
• Healthcare leadership and management.
• Operational medical planning.
• Medical logistics to sustain overseas deployments.
• Medical capability, development and acquisition.
• Design and delivery of medical training for practitioners and HSS personnel.
While this list is not exhaustive, irrespective of your role you are vital to the safe and effective delivery of healthcare throughout Defence, at home and overseas.
Reflecting other specialisations in the RAF, you will be expected to move jobs every few years. Each of these jobs is known as a‘ tour’. Most of your tours will be on RAF bases and MoD sites within the UK.
Additionally, there are some emerging opportunities to work overseas as you progress through the ranks. There are operational roles for MSOs within deployed headquarters and across the RAF’ s Medical Force Elements at Readiness.
SIP- O- MSO Page 3