1. What is Public Health?
“Public health is what we, as a society, do collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy. This requires that continuing and emerging threats to the health of the public be successfully countered.”

2. What’s the Difference Between Public Health and Medicine?
Primary focus is on populations and preventing illness
Medicine
Primary focus is on individual patients and caring for the sick

3. Ten Great Public Health Achievements United States 1900 - 1999

4. Epidemic
An occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people
A sudden quickly spreading occurrence of something harmful or unwanted

5. Epidemics Recent Epidemics: Epidemics of the Past Ebola SARS
Avian Influenza (H7H9)
Epidemics of the Past
Smallpox
Plague
Polio

7. Smoking, Obesity, Lack of Physical Exercise
Today 34 percent of high school seniors smoke at least monthly, up from 28 percent in 1991
In the U.S. today, 400,000 Americans die annually from smoking related illnesses
Today 30% of youth are overweight
63% of high school students said they didn’t exercise for at least 60 minutes (recommended amount) every day

8. Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 1985
(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’ 4” person)
No Data <10% %–14%

9. Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 1991
(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’ 4” person)
No Data <10% %–14% %–19%

10. Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 1997
(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’ 4” person)
No Data <10% %–14% %–19% ≥20

11. Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 1999
(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’ 4” person)
No Data <10% %–14% %–19% ≥20

12. Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 2001
(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’ 4” person)
No Data <10% %–14% %–19% %–24% ≥25%

13. Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 2004
(*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’ 4” person)
We have never had an epidemic like this that we have been able to track so thoroughly and see. As I told you, this is conservative.
About 60 million adults, or 30 percent of the adult population, are now obese, which represents a doubling of the rate since 1980.
No Data <10% %–14% %–19% %–24% ≥25%

15. Fields of Public Health
Epidemiology
Health Education
Health Systems and Policy
Environmental Health

16. Public Health… Being prepared for whatever might happen next!

17. Examples Public Health Research
Epidemiology
Does Needle Exchange in NJ Stop the Spread of HIV Infection
Health Systems and Policy
How Can We Reshape the Health System to Lower Health Care Costs in Camden
Health Education
What’s the Impact of New Taxes on Tobacco Snuff on Use
Environmental and Occupational Health
Air Quality Monitoring at the Beijing Olympics

18. New Jersey needs more public health professionals
New Jersey needs more public health professionals. NJ ranks 42 out of the 50 states in terms of the size of its public health workforce.

19. Examples of Careers in Public Health
Local and state health departments
Federal—Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service
International—World Health Organization
Academia—teaching and research at the undergraduate and graduate level
Private industry—pharmaceutical companies
Hospitals and clinics, community based organizations

20. Undergraduate Programs
Rutgers—Undergraduate degree in Public Health or Health Sciences
Richard Stockton—Undergraduate degree in Public Health
Camden Community College—course—Introduction to Public Health

21. Let’s Look at How a Disease Spreads in a Population