MD and MPH future workforce: Training to achieve population health outcomes together

Healthcare reform is changing the face of both public health and primary care. The introduction of ACOs ties budgets and payments to quality and population-based outcome measurements. This new model is an opportunity to integrate medicine and public health more effectively, giving primary care physicians a greater understanding of public health and public health professionals an opportunity to take their population-based skills into clinic settings. This new normal requires a different approach to training beyond a mere blending of existing medical school and public health training models. Ideally such a model would involve interprofessional collaboration which recognizes and values the population-based approaches of public health in a clinic setting. Electronic health records store significant amounts of data that only become meaningful when used to improve outcomes. The translation from individual to population-level data requires a highly educated and appropriately trained workforce. While some of the knowledge and skills needed to accomplish these goals resides in our medical and public health schools, sufficient integration has not yet been achieved in a way that makes them useful for our clinical care systems. This session explores a new proposed model for training that prepares future physicians and public health professionals to work as members of an interprofessional team jointly accountable for delivery of high quality, efficient health care to a patient population.