From November 1 to November 5, 2010 I took part in a one-week Senior Medical Staff Officer Course at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany.Oberammeragau is a small town with 5 000 inhabitants situated in the Bavarian Alps, near the wellknown ski resort Garmisch Partenkirchen. It lies in a very nice part of the Bavarian Alps, about 850 m above sea level. The current school building was used as army barracks as early as 1937 and during the Second World War it was converted to a factory where Messerschmitt aircrafts were produced. The facility has functioned as the NATO School since 2005. From November 1 to November 5 four parallel courses for different military specializations took place in the school. The total number of participants was more than 250. Fifty-six students from more than 30 countries participated in the Senior Medical Staff Officer Course.Besides military medical service personnel, mainly physicians from NATO countries, military physicians from the Partnership for Peace countries were also present. The official language of the course was English. The aim of the course was to provide knowledge and detailed insight into NATO's medical support policy. This included policy making in NATO, NATO medical doctrine, strategic force planning, multinational medical support options and relations with...