Preventive medicine is a specialized discipline that focuses on the prevention of disease. Unlike palliative or allopathic medicine practitioners, professionals trained in preventive medicine do not attempt to cure disease or reduce the severity of symptoms. Instead, preventive medicine specialists promote the use of prophylactic measures to reduce the risk of disease. Examples include vaccinations and frequent hand washing. In addition, this area of medicine is involved with preserving public health as much as individual health.
Levels
According to the National Library of Medicine, there are four recognized levels of applied practice in prevention medicine that require specialized training to execute. Primary prevention refers to disease prevention through public health-based initiatives. This level of prevention involves the monitoring and counseling of individuals at risk for specific disease or mental disorder from biological pathogens or environmental toxins and developing protocols to safeguard public health. Secondary prevention refers to the employment of strategies to identify and counter existing disease before it significantly affects the greater population, while tertiary prevention relates to reducing disease severity and long-term morbidity in populations. The last level, quaternary prevention, is defined by Thomas Kuehlein, M.D., and associates as the evaluation of the risk of complications imposed by unnecessary or excessive medical intervention.
Specialization
In the United States, preventive medicine is one of more than 140 medical specialties recognized by The American Board of Medical Specialties. The specific board that governs the training and certification of preventive medicine practitioners is the American Board of Preventive Medicine. In addition, there are several specializations and sub-specialties associated with this discipline. They are Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, Medical Toxicology and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine.
Training Process
Training in preventive medicine is available to candidates who have completed a four-year program in a recognized school of medicine and a general residency of three to seven years. Licensure as a medical doctor or osteopathic medicine physician and general board certification follows, as well as the completion of a one-to-three-year fellowship program in a subspecialty of preventive medicine. At this point, certification in a subspecialty may be obtained to further a career in clinical medicine, research or teaching. Finally, certification must be maintained via ongoing evaluation and continuing education.
Careers
According to The American College of Preventive Medicine, physicians certified in preventive medicine work in the private sector as well as in public health. In addition to maintaining a private clinical practice, the preventive medicine physician may choose a career in research, education, managed care or international medicine.
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