Transactions of the Conference on the future of public health in the United States and the education of sanitarians : held at Washington, D.C. March 14 and 15, 1922 under the auspices of the United States Public Health Service.

  • Conference on the Future of Public Health in the United States and the Education of Sanitarians (1922 : Washington, D.C.)
Date:
1922
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Transactions of the Conference on the future of public health in the United States and the education of sanitarians : held at Washington, D.C. March 14 and 15, 1922 under the auspices of the United States Public Health Service. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EDUCATION OF SANITARIANS.* THE CONFERENCE. MorniInG Sesston, Marcu 14, 1922. INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. Huew 8. CumMMiIna, Surgeon General, United States Publie Health Service. It was not without a good deal of hesitation and thought and some preliminary correspondence that I ventured to ask such gentlemen as you to leave your work, your fields of endeayor, and meet here in Washington with us. I am very acutely conscious of the fact that there has been quite an epidemic of ‘‘conferencitis,’ as somebody expressed it, in the past year or two, and that much of the time of all of you has been taken up in conferences. But I think the impor- tance of the subject which you have been asked to discuss certainly warrants our getting together for at least two days. This is, so far as I am aware, the first time at which exactly this sort of a gathering has been called—the presidents of universities and deans of medical schools to meet around a conference table with men who are engaged in practical field work in public health. The situation in the United States at the present time with reference to the supply of public-health officers—local, State, and National—is an acute one. As a result of the war and the knowledge which was brought out at the time, there has been a great awakening of interest in public health throughout the country. This necessitates the training of public-health workers to direct the energies and the potential forces which are available. Without proper directing force, there is grave danger of wasted energy. This has already been ~ seen in certain fields. It is to avoid this danger and to supply the man for the job that we venture to ask you to come together. I am perfectly aware of the fact that there are splendid schools of public health existing now and they are encouraging. But more particularly the field of the local health officer needs to be filled. There are three: fectars,} in this situation. One 3 is the difficulty of the 1 A conference on the future of public health in the United States and the education of sanitarians was held in Washington March 14 and 15, 1922. Nearly 150 educators and leaders in public-health work from all sections of the country attended. All sessions with the exception of the banquet were held in the American Red Cross Building. A summary report of the conference has already been published (Public Health Bulletin No. 124, May, 1922.)