From NEJM: Medicine and public health

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22296074

N Engl J Med. 2012 Feb 2;366(5):395-7.
Opportunity in austerity--a common agenda for medicine and public health.
Stine NW, Chokshi DA.
Source
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.



"This seemingly imbalanced approach to health investment reflects a long-standing schism between medicine and public health, which remain professionally and institutionally distinct despite past calls for a closer bond.3 Ideally, population health would benefit from the integrated, complementary activities of a cooperative health sector. Often, however, the predominant interaction between a clinic or hospital and the local public health department is mandatory reporting of communicable diseases. Meanwhile, physicians and health care systems seeking to promote population health generally do so at their own expense, which leads to missed opportunities for both collaboration across health disciplines and potential cost savings."