PH > … An Introduction
At a recent meeting of the Health Professions Advisors of North Carolina I was asked for an example of the one thing I would say to a student who is planning to go to medical school about the advantages of a career in public health. At the time, I said that in reality, a public health career may be a better choice for some people.
This is a very challenging question. For me, public health is more than a back up plan or alternative to going to medical school or practicing medical care. And because public health is so broad, it is sometimes t difficult o explain that in a few sentences, especially to students who are not familiar with public health.
So, I have decided to do a series of posts on this blog that will address in some way how public health is more than just an alternative to medicine or medical care. To be clear, though the “>” means “greater than,” I am not saying that a career in public health is better than any other option. Medical care relies on public health and public health relies on medical care. Neither is better than the other.
PH > … Part 1
Let’s imagine that we wake up tomorrow and there are no diseases anywhere in the world. There is no cancer, no diabetes, no mental illness, no malaria, no malnutrition, etc. And, starting that day, everything resumes as normal.
What would medical care experts do until diseases develop? Physicians, for example, focus on treating diseases. Yes, some medical care would be needed immediately. People will break bones, have accidents and do other things that require immediate treatment. However, the majority of the patient load for physicians would disappear immediately.
First, how would we know there was no disease? Epidemiologists and health services researchers, aided by biostatisticians, would continue research and analysis describing the health of the population. In addition, their work would be the first to indicate the emergence of diseases.
TO BE CONTINUED…
