Hospital Corpsman
Provide medical care to Sailors and Marines.
Job Overview
HMs provide medical care to sailors and Marines from primary care to combat trauma treatment.
Hospital Corpsmen deliver patient care, perform lab and pharmacy work, and provide combat medicine to Marines. FMF corpsmen deploy with Marine infantry as "Doc".
History & Deep Dive
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Daily Responsibilities
- Patient care
- Trauma response
- Administer medications
- Support surgeons
- Field medicine with Marines
Training Pipeline
- 1Recruit TrainingGreat Lakes, IL · 10 weeks
- 2HM A SchoolFort Sam Houston, TX · ~19 weeks
Official Qualification Requirements
Requirements being verified against the official service publication. We do not display unofficial or estimated scores — contact a recruiter for the current minimum.
SECRET
Requirements are subject to change by the Department of Defense and each service. Always confirm the current standard with an official recruiter before making a decision.
Not required. Navy enlistment follows the federal standard in 10 U.S.C. 504: U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and lawful permanent residents (green card holders) may enlist. Confirm your rating at navy.com/joining/requirements. Citizens of the Freely Associated States (Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau) may also enlist under 10 U.S.C. 504. Verified August 2026 against the official branch site, 10 U.S.C. 504, and AR 601-210 (20 March 2026).
Video Library
Career Progression
Leading Petty Officer, Chief Corpsman, Master Chief.
Assignments & Special Schools
- Naval Medical Center San Diego
- Portsmouth
- Bethesda
- Camp Lejeune (FMF)
Deployment: Ship, sub, or Marine deployments.
Advantages
- Strong medical foundation
- Direct civilian pathway
- Fleet Marine Force option
- GI Bill for nursing/PA
Disadvantages
- Emotionally demanding
- Long deployments
- FMF is physically hard