What is Public Health?
Public health is the science and art of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. Public health involves the knowledge and application of many different disciplines in its research, teaching, service, and practice activities, including:
- biology
- sociology
- mathematics
- anthropology
- public policy
- medicine
- education
- psychology
- computer science
- business
- engineering, and many more
Public health is concerned with protecting the health of entire populations. These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood, or as big as an entire country. Public health professionals try to prevent problems from happening or recurring through implementing educational programs, developing policies, administering services, and conducting research, in contrast to clinical professionals, such as doctors and nurses, who focus primarily on treating individuals after they become sick or injured.
