Medicine MB to become Health Care Professions MB this Fall

[Wondering]

I am wondering if anyone is as surprised as I am to hear this news.  I was expecting to hear about the Citizenship in Society MB and this felt like it came out of the left field.

 

"As the fields of human medicine expanded through specialization, support services, and technology, it be-came apparent through direction from the field that Scouts were interested in learning about other areas of human health care and medical support. However, because it would have been impossible to develop an individual merit badge for each field of interest in the health care domain, it has been decided to create a single merit badge that will encompass a wide variety of health care careers: the Health Care Professions MB [2021].  Scouts working on the new merit badge will have the opportunity to learn about dozens of health care pro-fessions/vocations, including: Allopathic and Osteopathic physicians; Podiatrists; Chiropractors; Nurse Prac-titioners; Psychologists; Optometrists; Audiologists; Physician Assistants; Registered Nurses (and other nurs-es); Pharmacists; EMTs; Physical Therapists; Dietitians; Speech-Language Pathologists; Medical Technolo-gists; Phlebotomists; as well as many others.  

As with all merit badges, there will be a merit badge pamphlet containing support text that describes the roles these individuals play in the delivery of health care, the settings where they may work, and any educa-tional and licensing requirements that may be necessary.

The planned release date for the Health Care Professions MB is the fall of 2021, at which time the current Medicine MB will be retired. Scouts currently working on the Medicine MB will be allowed to continue working on it until completed, but after the official release of the Health Care Professions MB, Scouts may not begin working on the superseded Medicine MB. Hard copy editions of the Health Care Professions merit badge pamphlet should also be available in the fall of 2021. The style and design of the merit badge patch will not change between the new Health Care Professions MB and the former Medicine MB."  

[RememberSchiff]

@Wondering welcome to scouter.com

Seems a timely response to the pandemic, though I have not seen new requirements,

page 7 of link below,

https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Advancement-News_Sept-Oct-2021.pdf?fbclid=IwAR01PEyPEL9O4ubcgeKr5ElG8w5CxlrkXlx61xRMwoEZFHrT4D4KDLqIsIU

Edited September 27, 2021 by RememberSchiff

[fred8033]

Amazing how I want to debate a change that is incredibly reasonable.  It's not wrong.  Very understandable change. 

I think it's because I just like short MB names.  Medicine over Health Care Professional.

Also, I like action-oriented MBs.  First Aid preferred over Health Care Professional.  Plumbing or welding over American Labor.  

Otherwise ... ok.

[RememberSchiff]

Health Care Professions requirements were released Nov 15.

IMHO mostly talk, another easy MBU badge.

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/35975(21)-HealthCare-WEB-Requirements.pdf?_gl=1*mwfrjh*_ga*MzkyNTAzNzAyLjE2MzYyNDE0NTY.*_ga_20G0JHESG4*MTYzNjU1MDM4OC4yODMuMS4xNjM2NTU4MDAxLjE0

Edited November 21, 2021 by RememberSchiff

[skeptic]

On 9/24/2021 at 4:25 PM, Wondering said:

I am wondering if anyone is as surprised as I am to hear this news.  I was expecting to hear about the Citizenship in Society MB and this felt like it came out of the left field.

 

"As the fields of human medicine expanded through specialization, support services, and technology, it be-came apparent through direction from the field that Scouts were interested in learning about other areas of human health care and medical support. However, because it would have been impossible to develop an individual merit badge for each field of interest in the health care domain, it has been decided to create a single merit badge that will encompass a wide variety of health care careers: the Health Care Professions MB [2021].  Scouts working on the new merit badge will have the opportunity to learn about dozens of health care pro-fessions/vocations, including: Allopathic and Osteopathic physicians; Podiatrists; Chiropractors; Nurse Prac-titioners; Psychologists; Optometrists; Audiologists; Physician Assistants; Registered Nurses (and other nurs-es); Pharmacists; EMTs; Physical Therapists; Dietitians; Speech-Language Pathologists; Medical Technolo-gists; Phlebotomists; as well as many others.  

As with all merit badges, there will be a merit badge pamphlet containing support text that describes the roles these individuals play in the delivery of health care, the settings where they may work, and any educa-tional and licensing requirements that may be necessary.

The planned release date for the Health Care Professions MB is the fall of 2021, at which time the current Medicine MB will be retired. Scouts currently working on the Medicine MB will be allowed to continue working on it until completed, but after the official release of the Health Care Professions MB, Scouts may not begin working on the superseded Medicine MB. Hard copy editions of the Health Care Professions merit badge pamphlet should also be available in the fall of 2021. The style and design of the merit badge patch will not change between the new Health Care Professions MB and the former Medicine MB."  

Perhaps too much redirection, but I could see a variant of the merit badge that allowed segments for various specialty areas.  

[SSScout]

Doesn't include Dentistry ?  Isn't that a Health Profession?   Why separate after this re-alignment (orthodontia) ?