OVERVIEW

Essential Public Health Services for Physicians is organized by American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM).

Expires on Aug 15, 2025

Description:
Identify opportunities to incorporate public health services into your practice of medicine. Sharpen skills in mobilizing communities, forging partnerships, championing policy, and many other ways to improve population health as a physician.
The 10 Essential Public Health Services course is an ACPM educational offering featured on the LMS. It is a 10-part program, highlighting each of the services. ACPM’s priority is prevention. As such, this course will provide preventive medicine physicians with critical skills to improve patient and population health.

Background
The mission of the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) is to represent and support preventive medicine physicians in their role as public health and health systems leaders. The vision of the organization is that through our work, public health and health systems value the leadership role of preventive medicine physicians in promoting healthy lifestyles and population health. With training and expertise in population health, preventive medicine physicians bridge the divide between public health and clinical practice. The 10 Essential Public Health Services course provides a framework for guiding public health and promoting health. Originally developed in 1994, the services were updated in 2020 and are centered around providing equitable care to all people. The objective of this course is to educate preventive medicine physicians specifically, and all physicians generally, on the role of public health in medicine, identify opportunities to incorporate the services into practice, and provide equitable care to patients and populations with whom the physicians interact. Once developed, the course will be hosted on ACPM’s learning management system and can be used by physicians of all specialties to meet a renewed focus on population health.

Course Outline

Assess and monitor population health status, factors that influence health, and community needs and assets
Investigate, diagnose, and address health problems and hazards affecting the population
Communicate effectively to inform and educate people about health, factors that influence it, and how to improve it
Strengthen, support, and mobilize communities and partnerships to improve health
Create, champion, and implement policies, plans, and laws that impact health
Utilize legal and regulatory actions designed to improve and protect the public’s health
Assure an effective system that enables equitable access to the individual services and care needed to be healthy
Build and support a diverse and skilled public health workforce
Improve and innovate public health functions through ongoing evaluation, research, and continuous quality improvement
Build and maintain a strong organizational infrastructure for public health