What is Occupational Medicine ?

from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM)

Residents of a local community that is being considered for a solid waste incinerator seek advice on the health hazards associated with such facilities.

The plant manager of a local plant with 800 employees that makes clothing is concerned about symptoms of wrist and hand pain in large numbers of employees. He is told by a local neurologist that many persons have carpal tunnel syndrome that is probably caused by the intensive hand work required in the work process.

Occupational and environmental medicine is a specialty of medicine devoted to the prevention of occupationally- and environmentally-induced injuries and illnesses in populations of working people and communities. Practitioners are certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Occupational Medicine. In addition to expertise in clinical toxicology -the evaluation and treatment of illnesses associated with such toxins as lead, solvents, and pesticides - occupational and environmental physicians are active in such diverse areas as injury prevention, occupational and environmental policy, and the health effects associated with global warming, environmental pollution, and new and old industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, biotechnology, and automobile manufacturing. As new industries appear and the way people work in the United States and around the world evolves, the exciting challenges facing physicians in this field will grow immensely.

In the past 10 years, several professional, educational, and policy-making groups have highlighted and stressed the growing need for physician specialists in occupational and environmental medicine. It is estimated that a shortage of several thousand such physicians exists in the United States alone, and as the movement towards free trade intensifies in North America and around the world, occupational and environmental physicians with international responsibilities will be needed in growing numbers. The specialty has seen a rapid growth in the number of formal training programs in the United States since the late 1970s.

The large number of exciting and diverse job opportunities for physicians in this field testifies to this unmet need. There exists a wide variety of clinical practice opportunities - in plants, hospitals, universities, and private practice - as well as employment in governmental agencies at the federal, state, and local levels, and in industry. Physicians in U.S. government settings perform research, provide technical assistance to international agencies and foreign companies and governments, participate in standard setting and policy development, and develop programs to monitor and protect the health of the public. Physicians in industry can work in plant or corporate settings, with clinical, administrative, policy , and program development responsibilities. Occupational physicians also find many opportunities as consultants to industry and government. Finally , as the number of academic programs in occupational and environmental medicine grows dramatically in schools of medicine and public health, opportunities for academic careers involving research, teaching, and consulting.