Professional role of public health physicians in China under the new situation: a brief discussion

The new situation in social development places higher demands and new challenges upon professional roles for public health physicians currently in China. But multiple public health demands on professional roles of the physicians could not be met due to unclear related policy designs and limited professional practices of the physicians. Under the new situation, public health physicians are basically involved in disease prevention, health maintenance, and health promotion, specifically engaged in five major practices including disease prevention and control, health promotion, surveillance on health impact factors, general public health, and preventive medicine. Public health physicians should make efforts in promoting the integration of clinical and preventive medicine, improving professional capability of modern technology application, and providing public health services in various populations.