What is Public Health?

MEDICINE

·         Primary concerns is an individual

·         Doctor-Patient relationship and ethics reolved around individual 

·         Emphasis on disease diagnosis, treatment, and care for the individual patient

·         Medical paradigm places predominant emphasis on medical care

·         Uniform system for certifying specialists beyond professional medical degree

·         Lines of specialization organized, for example, by: 

-organ system (ophthalmology, neurology, cardiology, etc)

-patient group (obstetrics, pediatrics, Internists)

-etiology and pathophysiology (infectious disease, oncology)

-technical skill (radiology, surgery)

·         Biological sciences central, stimulated by needs of patients; research moves between laboratory and bedside

·         Numerical sciences increasing in prominence, though still a relatively minor part of training

·         Social sciences tend to be an elective part of medical education and teaches to integrate recovered person to his/her family or community

PUBLIC HEALTH

·         Main focus is on populations and groups
·         Comprehensive, broad and holistic in nature and much more cost effective approach to deliver healthcare to people

·         Public and health department relationship, social and public responsibility

·         Emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion for the whole community

·         Public health paradigm employs a spectrum of interventions aimed at the environment, human behavior and lifestyle, and medical care; designing, implementation and evaluation of health programs 

·         Variable certification of specialists beyond professional public health degree

·         Lines of specialization organized, for example, by: 

- analytical method (epidemiology, biostatistics, toxicology)

- setting and population (occupational health, school health, global health)

-substantive health problem (environmental health, nutrition)

-management (Planning, monitoring and evaluation)

-enforcement and advocacy (Public health legislations and politics)

-communication (Behavior change communication, health informations)

·         Life sciences central, with a prime focus on major threats to the health of populations; research moves between laboratory and field

·         Population sciences and quantitative disciplines essential features of analysis and training

·         Social and public policy disciplines an integral part of public health education and health promotion
·         Focus is more on dealing with Social and psychological Determinants of health 

·         Integral component of human development and human rights
·         It is a science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promote health through organizing committee efforts handling all possible determinants of health of the people.