Which year was the corps of commissioned officers, the Medical Corps of the United States Navy, founded?

The Medical Corps of the United States Navy is a staff corps consisting of military physicians in a variety of specialities. It is the senior corps among all staff corps, second in precedence only to line officers. The corps of commissioned officers was founded on March 3, 1871.

Prior to the formal establishment of the corps, ship's surgeons served without commissions, unless given one by the commanding officer. Those commissions would be for the duration of a specific cruise.

The Medical Corps is one of the four staff corps of the Navy's 'Bureau of Medicine and Surgery' which is led by the Surgeon General of the United States Navy. Upon graduation, the new physicians are promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (O-3) and enter active duty as medical interns (PGY-1) at a Naval Hospital. Upon completion of an internship year, a Navy physician can be deployed to the fleet as a General Medical Officer.

As recognition of the importance and longstanding contributions of the role of the Medical Officer, a number of naval fighting ships have been named after physicians in the United States Navy.