Community Health, Part 2

Question 1: Define and discuss smog.

Answer 1: Smog is the informal name given to the combination of smoke, gases, and fog that accumulates in major industrial or metropolitan areas. Most smog is created by motor vehicles, wood-burning stoves, industrial factories, and electric utilities plants. Gray smog, which is mainly sulfur dioxide, is common in the eastern United States because of the high concentration of industry. This kind of smog acts like cigarette smoke on the lungs, impairing the ability of the cilia to expel particulates. Brown smog comes from automobiles and is mainly composed of nitrogen dioxide. Ozone, one of the other components of brown smog, can impair the immune system. Automobiles are also known to produce carbon monoxide, which diminishes the ability of the red blood cells to carry oxygen.

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Question 2: What training is involved to be a physician?

Answer 2: In the United States, it takes at least 3 years of premedical studies (with an emphasis on physics, biology, and chemistry) followed by 4 (occasionally 3 or 5) years of medical school before a student can become a physician. The first 2 years are devoted to basic subjects: anatomy, embryology, pharmacology, and others. In the next 2 years, aspiring physicians begin clinical work in cooperation with practicing physicians in hospitals. After this, they must pass a series of national board examinations and complete a one-year hospital internship. Finally, they will have to finish a period of residency, which can last from 2 to 5 years. During their residency, doctors become trained and certified in one of the specialty branches of medicine.

Question 3: Describe how physicians are certified.

Answer 3: The majority of certified physicians are either specialists or subspecialists who focus almost exclusively on one part of the body, system of organs, type of disease, or type of treatment. For a long time, these specialists were better paid and more esteemed in the medical community. However, recent changes in the structure of health care in the United States have put more emphasis on the work of so-called primary care physicians, specifically, family practitioners and pediatricians. These physicians typically provide routine checkups, treat common ailments, and prescribe basic medications. Increasingly, primary care physicians are responsible for determining whether a patient should seek the aid of a specialist.

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