Ten lessons in public health: Inspiration for tomorrow's leaders

摘要

As interest in the field of global health has expanded over the past two decades, more people than ever are looking for a path that will allow them to make a difference in the health of those living in the most underserved areas of the world. The most common advice most of us give to these talented and committed people necessarily reflects our own decisions and experiences. In this engaging book, Alfred Sommer does exactly that, but he surprises convention with the unexpected breadth and uniqueness of his own career journey. He distils lessons learned over four-plus decades that were spent practicing and researching global public health into 10 short stories, each centered on an important lesson. In the interest of full disclosure, I must acknowledge that I have heard these lessons and stories many times. Al Sommer hired me straight out of my Ph.D. programme into the small group of public health faculty he was assembling at the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health in the early 1980s. He was, and has remained, the most influential mentor for my own career.