Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,

where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges.

If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jhhhu.edu.

That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes.

Hey listeners, it's Lizzie Smith-Rogers, and today the podcast heads to Florida.

Dr. George Rust is a professor at Florida State University,

where he co-directs the Center for Medicine and Public Health. He's also the author of a new book,

Healing in a Changing America, Doctoring in a Nation of Needless Suffering. He speaks with Dr. Josh

Sharfstein about the state of public health and medicine in Florida, including his frustrations and his

reasons for hope. Let's listen. Dr. George Rest, welcome to public health on call.

Thanks for having me. I think it might be great just to start by introducing yourself to our audience.

Sure. I'm a family physician by training at Cook County Hospital. I was where I did my residency. I'm also a public health preventive medicine specialist. I've been a clinician working mostly in underserved settings, a clinician teacher, and then a clinician teacher scholar doing research.

Great. And you have a special connection to Florida.

I do. I grew up in Florida. I came back

here after training to work in the Farm Worker Health Association. After spending 25 years at

Morehouse, I came back to FSU, where I've been on the faculty full time, but also serving as a

public health medical director in county health departments. So you have a national perspective.

You worked across the country in Preventant Medicine and Public Health.

And now you're back in your home state of Florida.

Yes.

And you're watching public health in Florida.

Yes.

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