Public Health: What It Is and How It Works, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: Wow...
Review: Boy, I'm surprised at the reaction the book is getting! I have this book, and it's really quite good - I'm an MS-Epidemiology candidate, and it's really helped me with the fundamentals of the field. Incidentally, in response to the implication that Dr. Turnock is less than qualified to put forth an effort such as this, you might want to investigate that, you can find his impressive accompishments at the school's website. Board certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and former director of the IDPH, to name a few? Sounds qualified to me. I'd recommend this book to any PH student or someone looking to learn the basics...I don't hesitate to rank this right up there with Gordis. Cheers!

Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate and vapid
Review: If you've ever had any actual experience in public health, you will probably recognize this book for the sham it really is. Public health systems in the real world just don't behave in the idealized way that Turnock describes. Moreover, Turnock is far too uncritical of HMOs, which consitently fail to provide actual assitance (not just theoretical assistance) to patients who need it. There is also no understanding at all here about the ways in which class differences affect dstribution of health care coverage, or any discussion of what we might be able to do about it.

The reader is left with a blinkered and rather utopian model of our current public health system - one that glosses over existing problems and presents only the most simplistic assessments. You might learn something if you're just beginning your public health studies, but for the rest of us, this book just isn't worth its exorbitant price tag.

Rating:
Summary: Good guide to understanding Public Health
Review: This book really tells us what the Public Health is and how it works, as the title suggests. Even though data or statistics cited are somewhat outdated, you can understand the fundamental meaning of PH.