ABSTRACT
The practice of clinical and preventive medicine is changing rapidly around the world. Although research leading to the development of new diagnostic techniques and drug treatments has always been part of the experience of physicians, changes within the health care system, and the impact of even broader political and economic changes on this system, will have even more profound effects on the practice of medicine over the next 25 years. The challenge to provide effective and affordable solutions to providing accessible and equitable health care has stimulated great interest in the contribution that can be made by public health and preventive medicine initiatives becoming more integral to the mainstream health care system.
