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how come not that many applicants for occ.med?...any input?..how is the salary..lifestyle...etc?...details anyone?...
q.about occupational medicine...
- Thread starter docmani
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Occupational medicine is actually not a sub-specialty of internal medicine, although there are currently a lot of internists working as occupational physicians since it's such a new specialty. I think that occupational medicine residency takes some 4 yrs to complete, most offer you an MPH as part of completing the residency too. Salary is 140-180 K, depending on where you work. Hours are really nice, no call, regular business hours (if that). There is a lot of stress associated with being an occupational medicine, there bound to be a lot of friction between you, the employees, and the employer, since everyone want's something. Employees want more time off for back pain, while the employers want employees to work. A lot of it is mediation and being political. Also, sometimes you have to inform employees and their managers if they test positive for drugs or can no longer safely function at their job, and this can cause a lot of conflict too. There was an article in a local paper around here about how the city employee physician always had to have a security guard on duty outside of her office because of all the death threats she has been getting since getting some employees fired and cutting down on employee sick days. People have also been slashing her tires too. Some people just like to shoot the messenger I guess.
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another avenue for oocupational med is either FP or EM (as well as IM). I know several EPs who are MRO (Medical Review Officers) and they get paid BIG BUCKS just to review UDSs and the sort.
Q, DO
Q, DO
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For some preventative medicine residency programs, I believe that completing a MPH is mandatory. Even if it wasn't, I don't see why you would be opposed to getting this degree since the extra degree will probably make you more marketable. The job market for occupational physicians is actually excellent. That's why they are re-training a lot of internists for this field, because there aren't enough occupational physicians out there right now. The reason that the market is so strong right now is because physicians out in private practice do an awful job when it comes to handling occupational medicine cases. As a physician, your only concern is the patient, therefore if a patient tells you that he has back pain and wants a week off, you essentially have no incentive to say no. That's why a lot of major corporations and governments are turning to occupational physicians to handle their job-related claims. It saves them a lot of money. Of course part of their role is also in the legal arena as well, with worker's compensation issues and job-related accident claims. Anyways, I'm not an expert in the field or anything, I just happen to know a few physicians in the field, but here is a website about the field:
http://www.acoem.org/position/statements.asp?CATA_ID=29
It's an interesting career that not enough medical students are being made aware of.
http://www.acoem.org/position/statements.asp?CATA_ID=29
It's an interesting career that not enough medical students are being made aware of.
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I used to be an administrator for an occ med professional organization. They generally have very good lifestyles (shorter end of working hours...I once saw a stat saying the average hrs/week was just under 40!!) and most make at least what a decently-paid family doc does (working more hours).
That said, there are some issues in occ med. The biggest one I saw has to do with the fact that most of their reimbursement is through the workman's compensation system. The level of this reimbursement varies from state to state and is often something that legislators find easy to cut.
The best-paid occ med docs I know work for corporations providing on site healthcare for the employees, doing drug testing, & performing pre-employment physicals. I also know a few occ med docs who work in minor emergency clinics.
If I were going into occ med, I'd definitely get the MPH in occupational health or environmental health.
That said, there are some issues in occ med. The biggest one I saw has to do with the fact that most of their reimbursement is through the workman's compensation system. The level of this reimbursement varies from state to state and is often something that legislators find easy to cut.
The best-paid occ med docs I know work for corporations providing on site healthcare for the employees, doing drug testing, & performing pre-employment physicals. I also know a few occ med docs who work in minor emergency clinics.
If I were going into occ med, I'd definitely get the MPH in occupational health or environmental health.
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Jobs are typically found where large employers are. You won't find many occupational physicians working in rural areas (except as an occasional consultant), for the most part, they are working for corporations or governments which are typically based in major cities.
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occ med is one of the most dynamic and interesting fields out there. You can do as much or as little as you want as an occ med physician. The field draws from a variety of different specialties, not just IM. I recently attended a national occ med conference on Bioterrorism. It was headed by a panel of 8, only two of whom had an IM background. There was an orthopedic surgeon on the panel as well as a general surgeon, an EM phys, and a pul/crt care specialist who had gone to law school after finishing his sub sbsplty.
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I used to work for an occ med office and it was a great place. If I wanted to work with grown-ups, it's what I would go into, hands down. We were paid based on workers comp (for injury) and through contracts for annual physicals, drug testing, pre-emplyment physicals, etc (we mostly did them for public sector employees - police officers, firefighters, city workers, etc). It was so great because of the continuity of care that the folks got who we did annual physicals on. A lot of these people did not see a doctor otherwise and our doc caught cancer and sever heart disease a few times and hence prolonged their lives significantly.
For all the future DOs out there, this is such a great field, too, since so many of the injuries that occ med docs see are repetitive stress injuries - things manipulation can really help.
I agree that not enough people know about the field.
For all the future DOs out there, this is such a great field, too, since so many of the injuries that occ med docs see are repetitive stress injuries - things manipulation can really help.
I agree that not enough people know about the field.
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I shadowed an occupational med doc. He was actually employed by a company that handled workman comp cases, physicals, and minor urgent care emergencies.
All I saw that day was a whole bunch of physicals and disgruntled truck drivers who couldn't get their licenses renewed becasue their HbA1c was too high.
He did have great hours. Was salaried. Sat around most the time reading a magazine. In the end I asked him what his thoughts were about the different specialties. He pretty much told me to do not go into occupational med. Then he and his partner went on and on about cardiology, dermatology, and radiology.
I have drawn my own conclusions. One, most docs who end up in occupational medicine don't end up there intentionally. Second, go through IM first or some other residency before getting into Occupational medicine.
All I saw that day was a whole bunch of physicals and disgruntled truck drivers who couldn't get their licenses renewed becasue their HbA1c was too high.
He did have great hours. Was salaried. Sat around most the time reading a magazine. In the end I asked him what his thoughts were about the different specialties. He pretty much told me to do not go into occupational med. Then he and his partner went on and on about cardiology, dermatology, and radiology.
I have drawn my own conclusions. One, most docs who end up in occupational medicine don't end up there intentionally. Second, go through IM first or some other residency before getting into Occupational medicine.
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Occ Med seems like a great specialty to me.
I have spoken to a few occ physicians and the ones that work for corporations can earn $200-230 a year. When you think about the fact that they have a strictly 9-5, no calls, no-pagers lifestyle, seems like it is unbeatable!
I have spoken to a few occ physicians and the ones that work for corporations can earn $200-230 a year. When you think about the fact that they have a strictly 9-5, no calls, no-pagers lifestyle, seems like it is unbeatable!
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Occ Med seems like a great specialty to me.
I have spoken to a few occ physicians and the ones that work for corporations can earn $200-230 a year. When you think about the fact that they have a strictly 9-5, no calls, no-pagers lifestyle, seems like it is unbeatable!
I have spoken to a few occ physicians and the ones that work for corporations can earn $200-230 a year. When you think about the fact that they have a strictly 9-5, no calls, no-pagers lifestyle, seems like it is unbeatable!
