Contact Information Leslie M. Beitsch, M.D., JD Florida State University College of Medicine Center for Medicine & Public Health 1115 W. Call Street Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300 Phone: (850) 645-1830 Fax: (850) 645-1782 les.beitsch@med.fsu.edu

About the Center The Center for Medicine and Public Health is created to bridge the historic chasm between the practices of medicine and public health through research, service, education, and linkages across the professions. It is the first such center in the nation located within a medical school. Research Initial research will include efforts in the following dimensions: Issues of community-based services which overlap the boundaries of medicine and public health Issues of workforce development and competencies for the fields of medicine and public health Cataloguing best practices for collaboration that span the medicine and public health century-wide divide Community Linkages Efforts will be focused upon facilitating the formation of productive partnerships at the community level in order to: Respond to issues of health care access for low income and uninsured populations Encourage improved preparedness to confront the threats posed by terrorism Improve health care quality and outcomes Stem the tide of epidemics involving chronic diseases through enhanced preventive services Develop tools and other resources that support and enable productive community collaboration Education The historical abridgment between medicine and public health calls for education strategies that address the fundamental differences and similarities across the two disciplines. Considerations include: Targeting both practitioners as well as students Students and residents of all relevant disciplines will be reached during their professional training Efforts to inform and influence the curricula of professional schools Development of innovative strategies to reach current practitioners who remain relatively isolated from their professional colleagues in the other disciplines