28 May

I've noticed in this pandemic the necessary tension between medical people, and public health people. They're not the same. Medical people (doctors, nurses) will tend to be focused on the health of an individual. Public health is about the health of an entire population. They do very different training and work. It explains why sometimes prominent doctors have spoken out about quarantine, because they see it as harming individuals, medically. Public health people though are 'treating' the entire population, using methods that are more political than medical. Why we need to be so careful with the idea of 'the science' - it depends whose science we're using, and for what purpose. Often they'll contrast the views on lockdown of an epidemiologist, and a doctor, and people will wonder why they disagree. They're looking with often very different perspectives. In Australia the two disciplines are pretty well managed together in single health services, but they're not the same and never will be. The tension is always there. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/about/public-health-medicine/