As a practicing Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) physician who is interested in spreading the word and helping recruit people to the specialty, I have seen a number of threads on SDN asking questions about OEM. Most of the responders aren't actually OEM docs, and much of the information is inaccurate/outdated. So I thought I'd provide a few highlights about the best specialty you've never heard of.
-What is the best place to learn more about OEM training and practice? Easy. The OEM Info Page. This is a new site created in 2024. It is very comprehensive and should answer all your questions in one place.
-Is OEM actually a real specialty? Yes. Board certification in OEM is through the American Board of Preventive Medicine, which includes OEM, the much better-known specialty of Preventive Medicine, and the even more obscure specialty of Aerospace Medicine. APBM also includes the subspecialties of addiction medicine, clinical informatics, undersea/hyperbaric medicine, and the new subspecialty of healthcare administration, leadership, and management (HALM).
-How long is OEM residency training? A total of 3 years, including an internship in any specialty and 2 years of OEM-specific training. As a bonus you also get a master's degree during OEM training, usually a Master of Public Health (MPH).
-Why should I consider OEM? Very high job satisfaction/low burnout, a surprisingly diverse range of job opportunities/practice settings, good work-life balance, the chance to impact health at the population level, interesting/challenging work, uses a wide range of skill sets, mix of clinical and administrative work in practice, and competitive pay. More on this here.
-What do OEM docs do? No simple answer to this one. Take a look at the long answer here.
-How come I have never even heard of OEM before? Since most of medicine is hospital-centric, and OEM isn't, and there are a limited number of OEM residency programs, people just don't learn about it in medical school (and often after medical school either). The specialty is just so under the radar that the word doesn't get out. And frankly, many OEM docs want to keep it that way, as it is something of a hidden gem. Since OEM seems to be quite popular among people that are familiar with it, I think the main reason is just that OEM has low visibility/awareness in the medical community and especially in medical schools.
-Is OEM in the match? Yes, OEM is in the NRMP main match for the first time in the upcoming 2025 match. For more info on this, see this video which talks about NRMP basics then delves into more specific questions about matching into OEM, which is a bit more complicated than some other specialties since most OEM programs are PGY-2 and PGY-3 only and require PGY-1 year elsewhere first.
OEM isn't for everybody, but it is worth taking a close look, at least to become familiar with what OEM is. If you don't take the time to learn a little bit about it, then you'll never know if you missed a golden opportunity for a fulfilling career path. There are many worse options...
-What is the best place to learn more about OEM training and practice? Easy. The OEM Info Page. This is a new site created in 2024. It is very comprehensive and should answer all your questions in one place.
-Is OEM actually a real specialty? Yes. Board certification in OEM is through the American Board of Preventive Medicine, which includes OEM, the much better-known specialty of Preventive Medicine, and the even more obscure specialty of Aerospace Medicine. APBM also includes the subspecialties of addiction medicine, clinical informatics, undersea/hyperbaric medicine, and the new subspecialty of healthcare administration, leadership, and management (HALM).
-How long is OEM residency training? A total of 3 years, including an internship in any specialty and 2 years of OEM-specific training. As a bonus you also get a master's degree during OEM training, usually a Master of Public Health (MPH).
-Why should I consider OEM? Very high job satisfaction/low burnout, a surprisingly diverse range of job opportunities/practice settings, good work-life balance, the chance to impact health at the population level, interesting/challenging work, uses a wide range of skill sets, mix of clinical and administrative work in practice, and competitive pay. More on this here.
-What do OEM docs do? No simple answer to this one. Take a look at the long answer here.
-How come I have never even heard of OEM before? Since most of medicine is hospital-centric, and OEM isn't, and there are a limited number of OEM residency programs, people just don't learn about it in medical school (and often after medical school either). The specialty is just so under the radar that the word doesn't get out. And frankly, many OEM docs want to keep it that way, as it is something of a hidden gem. Since OEM seems to be quite popular among people that are familiar with it, I think the main reason is just that OEM has low visibility/awareness in the medical community and especially in medical schools.
-Is OEM in the match? Yes, OEM is in the NRMP main match for the first time in the upcoming 2025 match. For more info on this, see this video which talks about NRMP basics then delves into more specific questions about matching into OEM, which is a bit more complicated than some other specialties since most OEM programs are PGY-2 and PGY-3 only and require PGY-1 year elsewhere first.
OEM isn't for everybody, but it is worth taking a close look, at least to become familiar with what OEM is. If you don't take the time to learn a little bit about it, then you'll never know if you missed a golden opportunity for a fulfilling career path. There are many worse options...
