What is community medicine?

“Community Medicine is about a system of delivery of comprehensive health care (preventive, promotive, curative & rehabilitative) to the people by a health team in order to improve the health of the community. It deals with population or groups rather than individual patients. It is concerned with identification and assessment of health needs of the people, health problems affecting them and to devise appropriate measures (planning, organization, delivery and evaluation of health care services) to meet these requirements as best as possible with the available resources. Community Medicine is thus a bridge between public health and clinical medicine. Successful implementation of a community health program under the leadership of a doctor depends on the mutual co-operation among all grades of health personnel’s, social workers, community leaders connected with the program and the common team spirit exhibited by them.

Doctors should be prepared to build up an effective partnership for health. It has now been realized that medical education should include knowledge about behavioral science, for such knowledge will enable medical students to appreciate human behavior better and to understand how different cultures influence health & illness. This will prepare doctors to deal more effectively the diseases and human sufferings.”- Ibrahim Medical College.