Public Health Basics

"The distinguishing feature of the public health perspective is that it focuses on populations - assessing and monitoring health problems, informing the public and professionals about health issues, developing and enforcing health protecting laws and regulations, implementing and evaluating population based strategies to promote health and prevent disease, and assuring the provisions of essential health services."  (http://www.cmsdocs.net/publichealth/MPH.pdf - page3)

For those new to public health here are some free basic  resources that provide an important background for the public health community.

Principles of Public Health - The Mission, Core Functions and Ten Essential Services.
This course  provides fundamental background information that remains relevanat.  Availalbe at  http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec1971/index.htm

Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice, Third Edition (Print-based)  Epidemiology is an important tool and this classic course provides the fundamentals and 17 CME credits - http://www.cdc.gov/training/products/ss1000/ss1000-ol.pdf  Use this link for CME  http://www2a.cdc.gov/TCEOnline/registration/detailpage.asp?res_id=2965

Public Health Ethics - Epidemiology is not enough.  Public Health Physicians must understand how and when to use the information they gain.  This course provides an excellent overview of the subject. http://oce.sph.unc.edu/phethics/

Public Health Law and the 10 Essentials Services. Organizaed governmental agencies have internationally recognized duties and powers that must be understood by all Public Health Physicians.  These two lectures discuss some of these fundamentals - http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cphl/slides/aaphp2000.htm

Risk Communication Introduction from Peter Sandman http://www.psandman.com/index-intro.htmhttp://www.psandman.com/index-intro.htm