Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is the title used in many countries for the senior government official designated head of medical services, usually at the national level. The post is held by a physician who serves to advise and lead a team of medical experts on matters of public health importance.
The post of Chief Medical Officer dates back to Victorian times. The equivalent title may go under different names across countries, for example known as the Surgeon General in the United States and the Chief Public Health Officer in Canada.
Famous quotes containing the words chief, medical and/or officer:
“When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is of advantage that there should exist a common error which determines the mind of man.... For the chief malady of man is restless curiosity about things which he cannot understand; and it is not so bad for him to be in error as to be curious to no purpose.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“They said I’d never get you back again.
I tell you what you’ll never really know:
all the medical hypothesis
that explained my brain will never be as true as these
struck leaves letting go.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“A true military officer is in one particular like a true monk. Not with more self-abnegation will the latter keep his vows of monastic obedience than the former his vows of allegiance to martial duty.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)