PopHealth Week on HealthcareNOW Radio features Thomas E. Dobbs, MD, Dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Melissa R. Stephens, MD, Associate Dean of GME and Population Health and Professor of Clinical Sciences at the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine. 

We discuss the intersection of population health with public health and the potential for systemic relief afforded by better alignement of public health 'infrastructure' with health system, health plan or risk bearing medical groups or physician networks as sponors of population health initiatives. We also address the value add of the John D,  Bower School of Population Health for clinicians who are expanding their interest in population level outcomes.

In addition to his role as Dean, Dr. Dobbs serves as the executive director of the Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities. He has a clinical position within the Division of Infectious Disease, working specifically in the fields of HIV and sexually transmitted infections with a focus on the intersection of disease and the social determinants of health.

Dr. Dobbs has a long career working at the crossroads of clinical medicine and public health as a physician, researcher and public health leader. He has held numerous leadership roles within the Mississippi State Department of Health including State Epidemiologist and State Health Officer (a role through which he directed the state's response to the COVID pandemic). As State Health Officer, Dr. Dobbs focused the agency on addressing the numerous health inequities that plague the state. Additionally, he has worked in leadership roles in the fight against diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.