Major difference between clinical care and public health practice.

 

Medical Care

Public Health

Focus on care of an individual patient Focuses on the health of the population
Takes the patient history Reviews the history of a population under consideration
Looks for physiological, biochemical, and physical measures Selects population attributes using surveys (EG obesity, smoking, poverty)
Uses offices and hospitals as the workplace Uses the community as the workplace
Interprets the illness in terms of individual performance Interprets community attributes using skills of epidemiology and biostatistics
Works in hours and days, and occasionally weeks Works in terms of months and years
A tactical operation A strategic operation