''You may also be looking for Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), a mobile telephony standard.

The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is the uniformed division of the United States Public Health Service (PHS) and one of the seven Uniformed Services of the United States. Members of the PHS Commissioned Corps wear uniforms similar to the United States Navy with special corps insignia and hold ranks equivalent to those of Naval officers.

The stated mission of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service is Protecting, promoting, and advancing the health and safety of the Nation.

The uniformed services component of the PHS (then the Marine Hospital Service) was formalized by legislation in 1889, which established the Commissioned Corps under the Supervising Surgeon (later Surgeon General). At first open only to physicians, over the course of the twentieth century, the Corps expanded to include dentists, sanitary engineers, pharmacists, nurses, sanitarians, scientists, and other health professionals.

The agencies and programs of the PHS CC are designed to:

• Help provide healthcare and related services to medically underserved populations: to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and to other population groups with special needs;

• Prevent and control disease, identify health hazards in the environment and help correct them, and promote healthy lifestyles for the nation's citizens;

• Improve the nation's mental health;

• Ensure that drugs and medical devices are safe and effective, food is safe and wholesome, cosmetics are harmless, and that electronic products do not expose users to dangerous amounts of radiation;

• Conduct and support biomedical, behavioral, and health services research and communicate research results to health professionals and the public; and

• Work with other nations and international agencies on global health problems and their solutions.

In addition, the PHS CC provides physicians for the U.S. Coast Guard. In this capacity, PHS CC doctors wear Coast Guard uniforms (with PHS CC insignia) and work alongside Coast Guard corpsmen and a handful of Physician Assistants who are commissioned Coast Guard officers.

The PHS Commissioned Corps is led by the Surgeon General and consists of approximately 6,000 officers in the following professional categories:

• Dentists
• Pharmacists
• Dietitians
• Physicians
• Engineers
• Scientists
• Licensed Professional Counselors
• Environmental Health Professionals
• Therapists (including Physical, Occupational, Speech, Audiology)
• Health Services (including Social Workers, Physician Assistants, Optometrists, Statisticians, Computer Scientists, Dental Hygienists, Medical Records Administrators, and other)
• Veterinarians
• Nurses

External links

• United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps website

United States Public Health Service