Occupational Medicine Job Market

[Jball43]

Hello SDN,

I’ve been really drawn to the “preventatationative” medicine subspecialty, Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Especially since I had a background in the legal field before medical school. I’ve had some incredible physicians give me some great advice lately (thanks to OEM doc!), but I’m curious to hear what others think about the job as a whole. I have heard of it being listed separately from PV in the Match, and I’m not sure if that will increase competitiveness in getting into the field. I also heard that Concentra controls about 90% of the market, and I’m not sure if that’s a positive or negative thing. From what I’ve seen and heard from physicians in this field, I can’t believe more people don’t know about this specialty. But maybe there are some good reasons for that? Is there anything a medical student should do (research, student organizations, volunteering) to increase competitiveness and understanding of the field?Any insights into preventative medicine and especially OEM would be awesome!

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[OEM doc]

A few comments from a practicing OEM physician.

-Historically OEM has not been highly competitive, but as it is a small field with a lower number of residency slots compared to just about any other specialty, that could change quickly or have high variability year-to-year. That said, I think the way you stay competitive is the same as with any other specialty - good grades, high board scores, good letter from an OEM physician that you do a rotation with, etc. I strongly recommend to seek out an OEM rotation during your fourth year, which at some schools may be difficult to find. If needed, ACOEM's Ambassadors group can help link you up with an OEM physician that can host a rotation for you.

-OEM has historically had a lower number of applicants primarily because of a lack of awareness/visibility of the field. especially among applicants coming directly from medical schools. OEM is relatively new to the NRMP, where it is now in the main match. This is likely to increase its visibility over time.

-There are two distinct categories of OEM jobs. One is for residency-trained, board-certified OEM physicians. This is a diverse and potentially lucrative market. The other is for non-OEM physicians who are transitioning into "Occ Med" on their own, typically with very limited experience in OEM (and often primarily due to becoming burned out in whatever specialty they started in). Concentra probably does hire a large percentage in this second group, where compensation is predictably much lower. Just be aware that these two parallel "Occ Med" job markets are very different, without a lot of overlap (since those in the latter group aren't competitive for jobs in the first group, and those in the first group typically don't take the kinds of jobs available in the second group). For accurate information on the OEM job market, you may want to check out the Mozibox site, which has a nice listing of OEM job openings, as well as very useful data on compensation in OEM. You can search through the data with a wide range of filters, including practice setting, number of years post-residency, and region of the country.

-OEM really is a hidden gem. The best single source of information on OEM can be found here. Be wary of getting secondhand information on SDN from people who are not in the field. Most non-OEM physicians trained don't know much about OEM and what they think they know is often incorrect. For a quick snapshot of what OEM physicians do and what they like about their jobs, I recommend the Profiles in OEM page.

 

[njones9]

Hey there. I am also a practicing, board-certified occupational medicine physician. Welcome to what is truly one of the hidden gems of medicine! I agree with everything OEM doc said above, great, accurate info.

Concentra has a strong presence in the bread-and-butter clinical/workers comp space, but I doubt it is 90%. In my area, there is no concentra clinic for hours. But OEM doc accurately described that is only 1 slice of a variety of opportunities open to board-certified occ med physicians, the variety is one of the things I love about the field!

I think the lack of awareness of the field stems mostly from the lack of exposure in medical school. We all know about surgery, peds, psych because we have required coursework and rotations in the same; not so for occupational medicine.

Regarding increasing your competitiveness for residency, I agree with OEM doc that the same steps apply for any other speciality. I think building a track record of true knowledge of and interest in the specialty goes an especially long way. Try to connect with occ med physicians in your area or at your school now. They may have research projects, shadowing/rotation opportunities, etc. and building a positive, long-term relationship can contribute to stronger LOR’s when the time comes.

I would also suggest that you consider joining the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. It is free or greatly reduced for students. Attending a regional or national conference is a great way to meet other occupational medicine physicians and increase your sample size of opinions of the field. Everyone has a different career path, current position, etc… again that variety is truly refreshing! You can also connect in-person with residency programs, current residents, and program directors. When I was a med student at conferences, everyone was super welcoming and very willing to give help and advice. It is not common for med students to even know this specialty exists, so you stand out in a great way.

Happy to help in any other way if I can!

 

[BetaBlocked_1]

Hello SDN,

I’ve been really drawn to the preventative medicine subspecialty, Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Especially since I had a background in the legal field before medical school. I’ve had some incredible physicians give me some great advice lately (thanks to OEM doc!), but I’m curious to hear what others think about the job as a whole. I have heard of it being listed separately from PV in the Match, and I’m not sure if that will increase competitiveness in getting into the field. I also heard that Concentra controls about 90% of the market, and I’m not sure if that’s a positive or negative thing. From what I’ve seen and heard from physicians in this field, I can’t believe more people don’t know about this specialty. But maybe there are some good reasons for that? Is there anything a medical student should do (research, student organizations, volunteering) to increase competitiveness and understanding of the field?Any insights into preventative medicine and especially OEM would be awesome!

I echo what my two OEM colleagues said above. OEM is truly a hidden gem. It has the lifestyle of derm (maybe even better than derm because >95% of the jobs have no calls AT ALL). I think part of the reason that most medical students or residents have not heard of OEM is it's a very small specialty and most medical centers don't have a standalone occupational medicine department, making the specialty much less known. @Occ Doc referenced Mozibox (full disclosure; I am behind Mozibox). Mozibox tries to crowdsource OEM physician jobs and create the most comprehensive job board for our specialty. As you can see from the job board, the jobs are abundant spanning academia, clinical, corporate and insurance positions. There are 90+ active occupational medicine jobs on there RIGHT NOW (only 1 with Concentra). This is A LOT of job openings for such a small specialty. People ask about pay for OEM (for clinical positions, it's slightly better than primary care; for corporate positions, it's comparable to surgical subspecialties). Hope this is helpful. Don't hesitate to reach out for additional questions. We have a reddit page r/mozicare.

 

[abc123412]

I think the occupational medicine job market is relatively robust; however, as the previous posters have commented, there may/may not be a premium for a board-certified occupational medicine physician (as opposed to a converted internist, family practitioner, emergentologist, or physiatrist practicing occupational medicine).

I doubt Concentra controls 90% of the market, which is still quite fragmented and regional in nature. If anything, my perception is that Concentra is shifting its focus to urgent care.

Occupational medicine will likely have a number of unfilled positions. Scrambling should not be a problem provided one has completed an internship, as I believe that most occupational medicine programs are not categorical.

 

[abc123412]

Hello SDN,

I’ve been really drawn to the preventative medicine subspecialty, Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Especially since I had a background in the legal field before medical school. I’ve had some incredible physicians give me some great advice lately (thanks to OEM doc!), but I’m curious to hear what others think about the job as a whole. I have heard of it being listed separately from PV in the Match, and I’m not sure if that will increase competitiveness in getting into the field. I also heard that Concentra controls about 90% of the market, and I’m not sure if that’s a positive or negative thing. From what I’ve seen and heard from physicians in this field, I can’t believe more people don’t know about this specialty. But maybe there are some good reasons for that? Is there anything a medical student should do (research, student organizations, volunteering) to increase competitiveness and understanding of the field?Any insights into preventative medicine and especially OEM would be awesome!

Incidentally, it is the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM), as opposed to 'preventative' medicine, as you wrote.