the perils of

  I attended my first Public Health Convention (PHCON) yesterday, and it was wild.  I mean, there weren't any keg stands or fellows in cheeky shorts dancing to Gnarly . But it did open my mind to the possibilities of what a public health doctor can achieve in 2025, and those possibilities are wild.  Public health doctors have been fighting for legitimacy and recognition in a world dominated by traditional medical specialties. To many people, being accepted into a specialty society counts as the highest achievement you can possibly get as a doctor. You can only join a "society" once you've proven yourself worthy as a physician - having undergone 3 or 4 extra years of residency training after passing the medical boards, perhaps 2 to 3 years of further subspecialist training, and passing rigorous oral and written exams, before you can finally call yourself a specialist.  And although the word specialist itself connotes that you are indeed quite unique or  special,...