Welcome to AMSA's Preventive Medicine Interest Group!
WHAT IS PREVENTIVE MEDICINE?Preventive Medicine (PM) is a board certified medical specialty concerned with the health of populations. Training for preventive medicine generally requires 2 years in residency after a clinical internship or transitional year. Training includes earning a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree which is usually done in one of the two years. There are three specialty areas within preventive medicine: General Preventive Medicine & Public Health, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Aerospace Medicine. All Preventive Medicine program teach the core competencies of biostatistics, epidemiology, management, administration, clinical preventive medicine, and occupational or environmental health. In addition, these programs generally, but not always, subsidize or fund the required Masters in Public Health (MPH) degree. Preventive Medicine physicians are specialists trained to examine the delivery of healthcare from a distinctive clinical and public health perspective thus giving them a unique niche and ability to impact healthcare on the population-based and global level. They pursue careers in all spectrums of healthcare including health departments, state and national government, government agencies like the CDC, or NASA, the military, academic institutions, organized medical care programs in industry, voluntary health agencies, professional health organizations, and international or global institutions including the WHO, UN agencies or NGOs. Specific career paths include managed care, public health practice, occupational medicine, environmental medicine, aerospace medicine, clinical medicine, informatics, policy development, academic medicine, consulting, international medicine, and research.
If this whets your appetite, please consider joining the AMSA Preventive Medicine Interest Group and keep reading below for ideas to learn much more about the field including general information, FAQs, non-traditional options and relevant links! JOIN OUR PREVENTIVE MEDICINE LISTSERVENON-TRADITIONAL ELECTIVES & FELLOWSHIPSELECTIVES AND IDEAS
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PREVENTIVE MEDICINE LEADERSHIP
HELPFUL LINKS
"Preventive Medicine (PM) allows me to focus on greater systemic issues healthcare is facing today, while still seeing patients if I choose to." "A PM fellowship allowed me to gain the necessary skills set to return to my clinical specialty and apply interventions that hopefully can be reproduced on a broader level." "At the end of a clinical week, I have touched many, many lives and families; at the end of a preventive medicine/public health week, I have influenced the health of populations." "By practicing PM, I feel I am able to work on the 'big picture' of a health issue and truly make a difference on a much larger level than I ever thought possible." "The beauty of PM fellowships is that they not only provide you the MPH, but supplement it with opportunities to truly apply the skills in different settings." "True, a PM fellowship is two years instead of one for an MPH, but I am also making a resident's salary, will be double board certified, and most importantly will be more qualified to impact my field!" "I wish I had known simply what the field of PM was truly about. The field is relatively small, unknown, and usually misunderstood - even within the medical community." "Why WOULDN'T a medical student consider this field? (Except that he or she is not aware of it)" "The attitude and integrity of people who work in PM and/or Public Health are superb. They are mission and vision driven, have ideals of how the world should be, and are actively creating this world." "Going straight into a PM residency was the best professional decision I've made yet. I'm quickly gaining the skills and experience necessary to effect real change in the health care system in the U.S. and abroad. My colleagues include people in public health, law, administration, business, marketing, politics, medicine, etc. The field of PM is endlessly diverse, challenging, and inspiring." "My first ACPM Annual Meeting changed the course of my career. I met physicians unlike any I'd met in the hospital. PM docs are creative, ambitious, and socially engaged. Every doc I met had a different story, a different career trajectory, and a different way they were changing the world for the better." |
