Preventive medicine physicians serve at critical junctures across the American health care system. Bridging the gap between clinical care and public health, these essential physicians and scientists make health system more effective by taking a big-picture approach to population health, diagnosing structural challenges and drivers of disease and guiding the prevention of disease before it ever happens. However, because of the incredibly diverse array of fields and scopes in which they practice, too many in the health care universe have a poor idea of exactly what preventive medicine physicians do.
Last week, ACPM hosted a virtual briefing, inviting members of Congress, their staff and partners across the public health realm to hear from three preventive medicine physician leaders. Dr. Tonette Krousel-Wood, Dr. Chris Pernell and Dr. Linda Ferry shared key insights about the day-to-day impact they make in the practice of prevention and in addressing hypertension mitigation, health equity, COVID-19 and tobacco cessation.
You can view the full briefing now on our YouTube Channel!
As Dr. Krousel-Wood said during her presentation, we are headed for a perfect storm of unmanaged chronic disease and COVID-19, and we need more highly trained preventive medicine physicians to help improve the health and well-being of our communities.
Learn more about the Power of Prevention and the work ACPM is leading to meet these coming challenges head on.