Preventive and social medicine explained

Preventive and social medicine is a branch of medicine dealing with providing health services in areas of prevention, promotion and treatment of rehabilitative diseases. Studies in preventive healthcare and social medicine are helpful in providing guided care, medicine in environmental health, offering scholarly services, formulating legal policy, consulting, and research in international work. While other fields of medicine deal primarily with individual health, preventive medicine focuses on community health, with individual efforts directed toward small groups, entire populations, and any size of group in between.

History and objectives

Preventive and social medicine primarily deals with providing a complete health service in the fields of rehabilitation, curative medicine, preventive medicine, as well as health promotion.^{[1] [2] [3]} Preventive and social medicine operates at the community level unlike other fields of medicine that are concerned with individuals. This branch of medicine often deals with improving public health.^[4]

Responsibilities

The practice of preventive and social medicine frequently involves managing and assessing surroundings.^[5] The main responsibilities of a preventative medicine practitioner include:

• Offering specialized services for people's health in defined populations^[6]
• Helping to prevent disease through protection and maintenance of health^[7]
• Assisting in preventing disability and premature death
• Managing and assessing health related to environmental or occupational factors^[8]

The field of preventive medicine covers a wide range of medical practices.^{[9] [10]}

Education

Preventative medicine physicians must acquire a doctoral degree in medicine - MD, DO, or MBBS. A preventative medicine physician undergoes a multi-year residency program similar to physicians specializing in other fields, such as surgery or radiology.^[11]

Other professionals in preventative and social medicine may have a bachelor's degree, master's degree, or other form of doctoral degree. The field is multi-disciplinary, and thus has a mixture of specialists and roles, such as forensic medicine specialists.^[12]

See also

• Preventive healthcare
• Public health

Further reading

• Web site: Deodhar, N. S. . Adranvala, J. K. . Basic preventive and social medicine . CAB Direct . June 16, 2022 . 766 pages.
• Abelin . Theodor . Social and preventive medicine: A scientific approach to questions of practical relevance . Sozial- und Präventivmedizin . Springer Science and Business Media . 38 . 5 . 1993 . 257–258 . 0303-8408 . 10.1007/bf01359585. 8256526 . 26421583 .

Notes and References

1. News: Social Medicine . 12 June 2022 . Navbharat Times . 25 May 2018 . hi.
2. News: What is Global Social Medicine? . 12 June 2022 . News-Medical.net . 11 November 2021 . en.
3. News: Need For Dedicated Public Health Cadre: Learnings From Covid-19 Pandamic . 12 June 2022 . Rising Kashmir . 23 April 2022.
4. Thakur . H. P. . Pandit . D. D. . Subramanian . P. . 1 October 2001 . History of preventive and social medicine in India. . Journal of Postgraduate Medicine . en . 47 . 4 . 283–285 . 0022-3859 . 11832652 . 13 June 2022.
5. News: Remembering Jeremiah Stamler, MD, Founding Chair and Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine . 16 June 2022 . News Center . 27 January 2022.
6. News: Preventive Healthcare Market 2022 Comprehensive Research Study and Forecast to 2030 . 16 June 2022 . Designer Women . 16 June 2022.
7. News: Deshp . Chaitanya . Preventive and social medicine key to control future pandemics: Experts Nagpur News - Times of India . 16 June 2022 . The Times of India . 5 March 2022 . en.
8. News: How Big Data Analytics Can Support Preventive Health . 16 June 2022 . HealthITAnalytics . 13 May 2022.
9. News: Miller . Jake . Care, Cure, and Context . 12 June 2022 . hms.harvard.edu . 30 September 2021 . en.
10. News: Medicine, the Pandemic and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara . 12 June 2022 . NewsClick . 14 June 2021 . en.
11. Web site: Preventive Medicine Residency Programs ACPM . https://web.archive.org/web/20240115211136/https://www.acpm.org/education-events/residency-program/ . 2024-01-15 . 2024-01-15 . www.acpm.org.
12. Sand . René . 1953-08-29 . Preventive and Social Medicine . British Medical Journal . 2 . 4834 . 471–472 . 10.1136/bmj.2.4834.471 . 0007-1447 . 2029453 . 13066765.