Exploring the Context: Contemporary Medical Education

Abstract

t t A w n s t s h e A d o Iwas honored to help kick off the “Patients and Populations: Public Health in Medical Education” conference on September 14, 2010. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the CDC had convened close to 200 energized medical educators and public health professionals who were committed to integrating public health content into medical education. Together with Dr. Judith Monroe from the CDC and Dr. Scott Frank from Case Western Reserve University, I participated in an opening plenary session that helped set the context for 2 days of presentations and discussions featuring curricular innovations focused on increasing the teaching of public health in themedical curriculum at institutions across theU.S. andCanada. As an emergency physician with over 25 years of experience practicing in challenging military and rural environments, I have a strong appreciation of the power of prevention, particularly as a component of injury control. As a leader in academic medicine, I have witnessed first-hand the vital interplay of the public health and medical education disciplines. Thus it was a privilege to discuss the pressing issues facing medical education and share my belief that now, more than ever before, those of us committed to educating the health professionals of the future must work together to meet the complex health needs of the nation.