Activity

Training Physicians for Public Health Careers

Type:

Consensus Study

Topic(s):

Public Health, Health Care Workforce

Board(s):

Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice

Activity Description

At the request of the Congressional Committee on Appropriations, the Institute of Medicine has been asked to convene a committee to assess the role of physicians in the public health workforce. 

Physicians play an important role in the Federal, State, and local public health infrastructure and are critical for public health preparedness.  However, currently there is not a generally agreed upon model for training physicians for public health careers. This project intends to:

1. determine what knowledge and skills are needed by public health physicians;
2. determine how many training programs are needed to maintain an adequate public health physician workforce; and
3. examine how these training programs should be funded.

An expert panel of 14 members was convened for this purpose and a committee report was produced with conclusions and recommendations.