The Biomedical Sciences Corps leadership at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, recognized and honored team members during the annual BSC Week, Jan. 24-28.

“BSC is one of the most diverse corps in the Air Force,” said Capt. Heather Widell, 78th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, physician assistant. “Our strength comes from our diversity with more than a dozen disciplines, which allows us to support a full scope of operations.”

BSC includes: physical therapists, pharmacists, dieticians, optometrists, bioenvironmental engineers, biomedical laboratory officers, podiatrists, physician assistants, audiologists, health/medical physicists, occupational therapists, aerospace and operational physiologists, public health officers, medical entomologists, clinical psychologists, and clinical social workers.

“I am a firm believer that our mental readiness is equally important and necessary as physical readiness, and, more over, they are interconnected,” said Captain Lauren Johnson, 78th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, psychologist. “We encourage members to come see us to prevent readiness issues and maintain their readiness.

“As a psychologist, we have an opportunity to be an asset when we serve in a role as subject matter experts to command teams,” Johnson continued. “So we are able to talk to commanders and first shirts, - and we are able to provide critical information on active duty personnel and offer recommendations to help resolve any potential safety concerns or give support to units here at home or while deployed.”

The origins of BSC date back to 1917 when the United States Army created the Army Sanitary Corps to combat infectious diseases. The Army Medical Administrative Corps followed three years later.

In 1949, the Air Force Medical Services was officially established and continued to expand over the next two decades. In 1965, the BSC was born and since then has expanded its range of services to meet Air Force missions.

Widell added, “Through each BSC job, we improve the health and lethality of warfighters and because of that, like our motto states, we are "Proud to be BSC!”