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Foreword Years ago, during a sabbatical from the School of Public Health he founded at San Diego State University, Doug Scutchfield joined our family for dinner one evening. At the time, our children were of an age when they considered adults to be uninformed and uninteresting. Listening to old fogies tell war stories was not high on their lists of favorite things to do. But as Doug related tale after tale about our medical school experiences, the children sat enthralled long after dinner was finished and the last plate had been cleared. At the end of each story, they joined my wife and me in helpless laughter and then pleaded for “one more. Tell us another.” That is how most of us feel about Scutch. Give us more. Take on one more challenge in public health. Help us learn and laugh together. In his dedication , Jim Holsinger describes Scutch’s remarkable career: the impact he has had on his chosen field and the many people with whom he has come in contact as teacher, colleague, and friend. I count myself fortunate to be a lifetime colleague and a friend since that first day in medical school a half century ago. And, like Dr. Holsinger and the many others who have contributed to this volume , I am honored to be a part of this expression of gratitude to Scutch for his contributions to our field and our lives. This can be nothing other than an ambitious book, given the person we honor. The subjects it covers range widely across the history, current issues, and future challenges in public health. As only the best of essays can, this collection stimulates and provokes. The authors offer the reader the gift of perspective , which is often missing in the classic text format. These essays are intended to supplement formal texts, round out a subject, introduce context and nuance, and provide insights into the thinking of seasoned practitioners. The volume benefits from the care with which each essay has been crafted, the guidance provided by Jim Holsinger, and the editing by the team at the University Press of Kentucky. It more than realizes its ambitions to teach and to honor. It also comes at an important time. Around the globe, in country after country, we confront the limits of the traditional medical model. It is expensive and contributes only marginally to the health of our communities. We don’t get what we pay for in terms of better health, better quality of lives, or xii  Foreword better personal and workforce productivity. As the essays in this collection demonstrate, this is where public health can play a crucial role. The field’s rich history and modern advances have contributed to the health of communities in countless ways throughout the world. Now, by focusing on community and population health, adapting the ubiquitous technologies of the Internet and mobile telephony, building the capacity to manage complex data analytics, and continuing to push the boundaries of population and molecular science, public health holds great promise that it can provide better health care at lower costs than we have achieved through our long infatuation with and stunning investments in the medical model. If we can wrestle to the ground the issues of organization and funding that have plagued the field of public health for at least two centuries, we have a shot at making a major difference. At no time has doing so been more important. To Scutch, friend and colleague, thank you for providing the impetus to write this important book. It does you proud, I believe. It is a fitting tribute to someone who has advanced the field so tirelessly and unselfishly for so many years. David M. Lawrence, MD, MPH Chairman and CEO (retired) Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals Inc. ...

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