Overcoming Challenges to Integrating Public and Population Health Into Medical Curricula

Integrating public health into medical curricula poses a substantial challenge to educators. However, the needs of trainees and the population requirements of accrediting bodies provide a compelling call to action to improve how tomorrow's medical practitioners are prepared to incorporate public health into their practices. This article provides insights about the nature of the challenges, and it identifies opportunities and practical approaches to integrating public health content into medical school curricula. The paper incorporates authors' opinions with a synthesis of the discussions from a workshop at the 2010 “Patients and Populations: Public Health in Medical Education” conference.