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HWN Suggests

Why isn’t learning about public health a larger part of becoming a doctor?

Chronic conditions, such as Type II diabetes and hypertension, account for seven in 10 deaths in the United States each year. And by some estimates, public health factors, such as the physical environment we live in, socioeconomic status and ability to access health services, determine 90% of our health. Biomedical sciences and actual medical care – the stuff doctors do – determine the remaining 10%.

Clinical medicine can treat patients when they are sick, but public health provides an opportunity to prevent disease and poor health. But too often, medical students don’t get to learn about public health, or how to use it when they become doctors. That means many of today’s students…

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Articles of Interest

The surgeon general and his brother: A family’s painful reckoning with addiction

The path that Dr. Jerome Adams took to the office of U.S. surgeon general begins in this southern Maryland town, where crab restaurants dot the rural landscape, where signs warn drivers to watch out for Amish horse-drawn buggies, and where he grew up on a rolling road with three siblings, including a brother five years his junior. Phillip. But as Jerome’s career has taken flight — he’s won scholarships for college and medical school, taken charge of a state health department, and ascended to become “the nation’s doctor,” as his job is nicknamed — Phillip’s has been diverted.

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A growing distrust could be dangerous to public health and safety.

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The need for professional doctors of public health

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Resources

Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health

Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health explores the complex and compelling narrative of public health. Its stories explain the latest research breakthroughs as well as the persistent threats to human health such as malaria, AIDS, chronic diseases, injury, obesity, pandemic flu and other issues.

American Association of Public Health Physicians

The voice of public health physicians, guardians of the public's health.

U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

The mission of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of our Nation. A