Preventive medicine is among the smallest specialties yet also the most relevant, influential in reach and diverse in the career opportunities open to its practitioners.
The core disciplines include epidemiology, biostatistics, health services administration and management, environmental health, health behavior and clinical preventive medicine.
Due to an emerging focus on improving the health of populations, the relevance of the specialty has increased. Its sphere of influence has broadened in the current age of medicine dominated by an increasing emphasis on promotion of health and wellness, the organization of physician practices in models designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness, and rightful demand for greater quality in the delivery and outcomes of care.
The specialty’s population perspective, skills and competencies combine to make its practitioners uniquely qualified to assume influential and essential roles in practice organizations, managed care, health care institutions, health departments, industry and in academic medicine, research and policy-making organizations.
The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM), a member of the Council of Medical Specialties since 1948, provides certification in the specialty. In addition to general preventive medicine and public health, sub-specialty areas in which the ABPM certifies include occupational medicine, aerospace medicine and medical informatics.