What makes public health different from the other health professions?
The primary distinction between public health and other health professions is that public health focuses on the health of entire populations while they are still healthy rather than on individual patients after they become sick. Public health professionals monitor and diagnose the health concerns of entire communities and promote healthy practices and behaviors on an on-going basis. Thus, communities need public health all of the time in order to stay healthy. Twenty five years of the thirty year gain in the average lifespan of individuals in the United States during the twentieth century is attributed to the success of public health. The basic public health degrees at the masters level are the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), the Master of Science (M.S.), and the Master of Health Administration (M.H.A). At the doctoral level, there are programs that offer the the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The accrediting agency of public health programs i
