Bruce N G
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, England.
Soc Sci Med. 1991;32(1):103-6. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(91)90134-x.
It is currently believed that epidemiology should play a much greater part in the research and practice of public health medicine. Although epidemiology has much to offer in this field, the nature of the scientific method is often in conflict with the pragmatic and incremental responses of public health medicine, particularly at the district level. This should not prevent the development of collaborative work in public health practice, but it does require some re-orientation of attitudes, and there are implications for training. It is suggested that the training of public health epidemiologists should be based in academic departments and have two major components, (a) an ongoing programme of scientific study in the academic environment, and (b) involvement in a range of collaborative service projects which will also provide general experience of public health medicine. This arrangement should help to maintain the scientific skills and judgement of the public health epidemiologist when faced with the need to modify traditional methods of investigation.
目前人们认为，流行病学在公共卫生医学的研究和实践中应发挥更大的作用。尽管流行病学在这一领域能提供很多东西，但科学方法的性质常常与公共卫生医学的务实和渐进式应对措施相冲突，尤其是在地区层面。这不应妨碍公共卫生实践中合作工作的开展，但确实需要态度上的一些重新定位，并且对培训也有影响。有人建议，公共卫生流行病学家的培训应设在学术部门，并有两个主要组成部分：(a) 在学术环境中持续进行的科学研究项目，以及(b) 参与一系列合作服务项目，这些项目也将提供公共卫生医学的一般经验。这种安排应有助于在公共卫生流行病学家面临修改传统调查方法的需求时，保持其科学技能和判断力。
