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10 The Health Bulletin February, 1954 the improvement of Man's lot through preventive medicine and public health. The public concept of disease has changed from regarding it as inexorable fate or the wages of original sin to tangible enemies which can be defeated by proper organization and financial support. This change of attitude has created a public demand from which the physician and health officer cannot escape, lest by public pressure and political power they find themselves subservient to bureaucracy. The principal health need of any nation as socially, technically, and scientifically advanced as ours is an instrument that will offer an intimate, personal service to which individuals can turn for assistance and guidance, in times of physical and mental distress, and a basically sound diagnostic and therapeutic service that will assure the individual a good first line of protection against the common hazards of illness and injury. To a large degree—culturally, and in private practice—the family physician is this instrument; therefore, the health needs of a nation depend upon the success or failure of the practicing physician in discharging his responsibilities. Loss of Confidence Despite Progress I am aware of the remarkable progress made within the life span of this generation, and I am also aware that medical science is progressing at an almost unbelievable rate. Approximately 80 to 90 per cent of the therapeutic agents and diagnostic tests which are considered routine today were unheard of or regarded as rarities a decade ago. As these therapeutic adjuncts have emerged from the laboratories to the field of everyday practice, the health of the community has proportionately benefited. More notable, however, than the recent progress made in medical and surgical techniques and immunizations has been the advance in environmental sanitation, insecticides, nutrition, hospital construction, economics, screening tests, and mass surveys for early case finding. The medical profession today, as never before, is seeking better health care for its people through continuous research, improved methods of sanitation, more careful inspection, stricter enforcement of the Pure Food and Drug Act, and many other day to day services. The citizens of America enjoy the best medical care of any country of the world. The system of American medicine is the best the world has ever known, and the American Medical Association is acclaimed the medical leader of the world. In spite of its record of service, however, this system, which is the best to be found, and which continues to get better, is being vilified by those people to whom it is giving so much. Why? I do not have all the answers for all the whys, but I think we can find many of the reasons from a statement which appeared in an editorial in a metropolitan newspaper several months ago! "Many a man frankly doesn't care whether the efficient machine in the white coat is socialized or not, because he feels the machine doesn't give a damn about him." We should read in this not an attitude of belligerence, but a disturbed concern over the loss of confidence in the American doctor. As the third support of the tripod, the private physician has an opportunity to restore public confidence in American medicine. We have lost such confidence because we who are presumably above the average in our community, with superior training and unquestionable standing, have failed to play our proper role as private citizens. The Fault and the Remedy Why do medical men default in their responsibilities as citizens? Is it because we have concentrated on the scientific aspect of medicine and lost touch with the social, economic, and political realities of today? Has our scientific growth isolated us from the complex problems of modern civilization? As a result of superior training and endowment, prac- j ticing physicians today should play a major role in the affairs of the county,
Object Description
Rating | |
Fixed Title * | NCHH-04: The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Document Title | The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Contributor | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh, North Carolina State Board of Health. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1954 |
Identifier | NCHH-04-069 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 69 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-04/nchh-04-069.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-b; nchh-04 |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-04-069 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-04 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1296443 |
Description
Fixed Title * | Page 6 |
Document Title | The Health Bulletin [1914-1973] |
Subject Topical | Public health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Contributor | North Carolina. State Board of Health. |
Publisher | Raleigh, North Carolina State Board of Health. |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1954 |
Identifier | NCHH-04-069-0012 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Page Type | all; article |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Filename | healthbulletinse69nort_0012.jp2 |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 69 |
Issue Number | 1 |
Page Number | 6 |
Health Discipline | Public Health |
Full Text | 10 The Health Bulletin February, 1954 the improvement of Man's lot through preventive medicine and public health. The public concept of disease has changed from regarding it as inexorable fate or the wages of original sin to tangible enemies which can be defeated by proper organization and financial support. This change of attitude has created a public demand from which the physician and health officer cannot escape, lest by public pressure and political power they find themselves subservient to bureaucracy. The principal health need of any nation as socially, technically, and scientifically advanced as ours is an instrument that will offer an intimate, personal service to which individuals can turn for assistance and guidance, in times of physical and mental distress, and a basically sound diagnostic and therapeutic service that will assure the individual a good first line of protection against the common hazards of illness and injury. To a large degree—culturally, and in private practice—the family physician is this instrument; therefore, the health needs of a nation depend upon the success or failure of the practicing physician in discharging his responsibilities. Loss of Confidence Despite Progress I am aware of the remarkable progress made within the life span of this generation, and I am also aware that medical science is progressing at an almost unbelievable rate. Approximately 80 to 90 per cent of the therapeutic agents and diagnostic tests which are considered routine today were unheard of or regarded as rarities a decade ago. As these therapeutic adjuncts have emerged from the laboratories to the field of everyday practice, the health of the community has proportionately benefited. More notable, however, than the recent progress made in medical and surgical techniques and immunizations has been the advance in environmental sanitation, insecticides, nutrition, hospital construction, economics, screening tests, and mass surveys for early case finding. The medical profession today, as never before, is seeking better health care for its people through continuous research, improved methods of sanitation, more careful inspection, stricter enforcement of the Pure Food and Drug Act, and many other day to day services. The citizens of America enjoy the best medical care of any country of the world. The system of American medicine is the best the world has ever known, and the American Medical Association is acclaimed the medical leader of the world. In spite of its record of service, however, this system, which is the best to be found, and which continues to get better, is being vilified by those people to whom it is giving so much. Why? I do not have all the answers for all the whys, but I think we can find many of the reasons from a statement which appeared in an editorial in a metropolitan newspaper several months ago! "Many a man frankly doesn't care whether the efficient machine in the white coat is socialized or not, because he feels the machine doesn't give a damn about him." We should read in this not an attitude of belligerence, but a disturbed concern over the loss of confidence in the American doctor. As the third support of the tripod, the private physician has an opportunity to restore public confidence in American medicine. We have lost such confidence because we who are presumably above the average in our community, with superior training and unquestionable standing, have failed to play our proper role as private citizens. The Fault and the Remedy Why do medical men default in their responsibilities as citizens? Is it because we have concentrated on the scientific aspect of medicine and lost touch with the social, economic, and political realities of today? Has our scientific growth isolated us from the complex problems of modern civilization? As a result of superior training and endowment, prac- j ticing physicians today should play a major role in the affairs of the county, |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-04/nchh-04-069.pdf |
Document Sort | all; group-b; nchh-04 |
Article Title | Public Health and the Private Physician |
Article Author | Bender, John R. |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-04-069 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-04 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1296443 |
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