Public Health
Health Care is Public
Health care continues to expand beyond the traditional model where a patient visits a physician’s office when ill. Its scope now encompasses wellness, prevention, education, behavior modification, rehabilitation, holistic, and more.
Along with this broadened scope, the number of channels available to people to access care and information has multiplied beyond the doctor’s office. People receive care and manage their health by going to a clinic, talking with members of their community, and educating themselves by researching online.
Another layer in the changing face of health care is the growing demographic – cultural, economic, education level, and more – diversity facing medical providers regardless of channels.
So when you combine the broadened scope of health care, the ever increasing number of channels in which people access health care, and the changing population demographics, the medical profession is confronted with the new face of public health.
Education is vital
Navigating this constantly changing health care landscape is a challenge for medical providers of all specialties and career levels.In this environment, offering credible, unbiased, and reliable medical education becomes paramount, especially in a time of growing prevalence of obesity, chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as outbreaks of highly transmittable diseases such as H1N1.
That is why the Delaware Academy of Medicine’s dedicates itself “To enhance the well-being of the community through education and the promotion of public health.” This mission guides the Academy as it offers medically and scientifically based medical educational opportunities.
For the past three years, the Delaware Academy of Medicine in colloration with Christiana Care Health System, has presented its “Mini Med School” program. Each year, members of the public “go” to medical school over the course of six weeks, listening to lectures on timely medical topics from Delaware’s leading physicians.
The value of providing the public with timely, usable, and quality medical education can be found in its multiplier effect, to use an economist’s term. A health care consumer who accesses this has the opportunity to improve their own health plus instruct or improve a family member’s or friend’s health. Ultimately, this goes on to in a macro sense, to improve the public health.
Help Connect
You’re invited to help us do more. This is an especially critical time as the medical community and the public deal with widespread public health issues such as antibiotic resistant bacteria, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, HIV, fibromyalgia, childhood immunizations, along with the high prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The Delaware Academy of Medicine is dedicated to pursuing new channels to educate the public about health.
