| Medicine | Public Health |
|---|---|
| Primary focus on the individual | Primary focus on population |
| Personal service ethic, conditioned by awareness of social responsibilities | Public service ethic, tempered by concerns for the individual |
| Emphasis on diagnosis and treatment, care | Emphasis on prevention, health promotion for the whole patient and for the whole community |
| Paradigm places predominant emphasis on medical care | Paradigm employs a spectrum of interventions aimed at the environment, human behavior and lifestyle, and medical care |
| Well-established profession with sharp public image | Multiple professional identities with diffuse public image |
| Uniform system for certifying specialists beyond professional medical degree | Variable certification of specialists beyond professional public health degree |
| Clinical sciences an essential part of professional training | Clinical sciences peripheral to professional training |
| Biological sciences central, stimulated by needs of patients; move between laboratory and bedside | Biological sciences central, stimulated by major threats to health of populations; move between laboratory and field |
| Numeric sciences increasing in prominence, though still a relatively minor part of training | Numeric sciences an essential feature of analysis and training |
| Social sciences tend to be an elective part of medical education | Social sciences an integral part of public health education |