Preventive Medicine 2020 Online brought together leaders from medicine and public health to examine the most pressing issues in healthcare today, and how the Nation’s healthcare system can be transformed around prevention. This virtual meeting offered high-quality medical education programming, networking opportunities, and the recognition of the best in the profession.

The meeting was organized around critical topics including innovations in community health, public health policy, evidence and practice, health systems transformation and lifestyle medicine. Each meeting day was themed around two critical topics, with distinct sessions addressing shared themes in the practice of prevention.

 

Preventive Medicine 2020 Online focused on big, bold, upstream ideas and the people, places, and programs that are making them a reality today. Transformation is only possible with a clear vision, audacious goals, an innovative mindset, and the will to implement new policy and practice, honestly evaluate change, and engage stakeholders at every level.

The current pandemic has uncovered numerous shortfalls in our public health infrastructure and overall preparedness efforts to ensure the health and safety of society. From a lack of planning for protective equipment, shortages in the stockpile, inconsistent data collection and contact tracing to major divestments in critical public health infrastructure, including proper training and education for the future. Couple these challenges with the ongoing and more apparent disparities of care, access and disease onset due to race and ethnicity and we have a perfect public health storm. This panel will discuss the challenges and the opportunities to improve medicine and its role in public health and the barriers and facilitators for realizing a health system truly prepared to address the next tsunami—second COVID wave—or pandemic—embracing the key tenets of prevention, preparedness and resilience.

• Identify the key barriers for achieving a health care system based on the tenets of prevention
• Effectively communicate the facilitators to ensure advancement of a prevention strategy in clinical and public health settings driven by impactful advocacy
• Articulate the role of prevention in both preparedness and resilience to avoid repeating the current experience
• Apply tactics (messaging/framing) to advance Preventive Medicine and Public Health in future pandemics

Donna Grande, MGA

Dr. Georges Benjamin

Dr. Patrice Harris