Leith J. States, MD, MPH, MBA, FACPM
President, Uniformed Services Academy of Preventive Medicine
For those who have practiced medicine in uniform, the connection between prevention and mission success is clear. An outbreak can interrupt training. An environmental exposure can threaten an entire unit. Preventing illness and injury protects service members and preserves a team’s ability to carry out its mission. These experiences help illustrate the value preventive medicine brings to the nation.
The Uniformed Services Academy of Preventive Medicine (USAPM), a council of ACPM, provides a professional home for physicians and trainees across the Armed Forces and the U.S. Public Health Service. Our purpose includes supporting education tailored to practice in the uniformed services, encouraging interest in preventive medicine careers, and connecting our members’ perspectives and priorities with the broader College.
Within the Department of Defense, preventive medicine contributes directly to force health protection, operational readiness and national security. Physicians work alongside enlisted and officer colleagues as part of multidisciplinary teams, applying surveillance, epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, and risk assessment to help leaders make decisions that protect people and sustain operations. The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps brings that same commitment to protecting populations through disease prevention, public health leadership and emergency response, serving communities across the nation.
These experiences have much to offer colleagues throughout ACPM. How do we recognize a threat early, communicate uncertainty, and help leaders act before harm occurs? How do we demonstrate the value of an illness prevented or a capability preserved? Physicians in health departments, health systems, academia, industry and operational settings face these same questions. Learning from one another can improve our practice and help us explain why prevention matters.
Our leadership discussions this year have focused on how USAPM can better serve its members and contribute to ACPM. Priorities include improving communication across services and career stages, encouraging broader participation and creating opportunities for mentorship, professional recognition and shared learning. We want students and residents to understand the career paths available to them and experienced members to have ways to share what they have learned.
Our conversations with the planning committee for ACPM’s upcoming 2027 conference in San Diego offer an opportunity to put these priorities into practice. We appreciate the committee’s willingness to explore how uniformed services perspectives can contribute to the scientific and educational program. Discussions have included operational case examples, career and mentorship opportunities and potential contributions to sessions examining prevention’s visibility and the design of healthier systems.
We welcome your ideas and participation as we develop this work together. Whether you currently serve, previously wore the uniform, or collaborate with those who do, your experience can help us learn from one another. We have an opportunity to make preventive medicine’s contribution more visible, strengthen connections across ACPM, and help the next generation prepare to protect health wherever the mission takes them.
