What is the Engineers Professional Advisory Committee?
In October of 1962 the Surgeon General approved the establishment of the Engineer Career Development Program in PHS and authorized the formation of an Engineer Career Development Committee (ECDC). The principal objectives of the program were to build professional competence, assure effective use of PHS engineers, and improve the recruitment and retention of engineering personnel. Prior to the ECDC, engineer career development was handled by the Chief Engineer and a small number of individuals, the scope of PHS engineering activities being at that time relatively narrow. The ECDC was operated in a manner similar to programs for other PHS personnel, i.e., nurses, pharmacists, dentists, etc. The ECDC had three major purposes: • To assist the PHS in determining engineering manpower requirements • To improve the recruitment and retention of PHS engineers • To maximize career development for the individual engineer through counseling training, rotational assignments, etc. In 1983, the Surgeo
