The Slow-Moving Crisis of Training in Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Details

• Personal Author:
  Martin CJ
• Description:
  Two years ago, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) published a Guidance Statement entitled The Future of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM), which concluded that "Despite robust job opportunities, a shortage of formally trained OEM physicians remains and is expected to worsen given a declining number of training programs."1 The authors identify funding as a major reason for this shortage: "Whereas for other US medical specialties the ability for residency positions to be filled is based on demand by graduating medical students, in OEM the issue is not primarily demand, but rather the inability of OEM training programs to fund positions for which they are accredited. Qualified applicants are turned away. The shrinking number of programs, as well as the inability to fund all accredited positions, is one of the factors affecting the pipeline for residency-trained, board-certified OEM physicians." They noted that 18 of 23 (78%) existing OEM training programs received funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which had been decreasing over time. Although maintaining that qualified applicants were being turned away, they also cite "limited visibility of OEM among medical students, residents, and practicing physicians" as an additional reason for the OEM specialist shortage. In short, a paradox: The specialty is wonderful and much in demand, yet fewer and fewer are entering it and training programs are closing. If more candidates were made aware of OEM, and with greater funding to increase both the number of residency programs and funded positions, more specialists would be trained. An in-depth examination of OEM training today, and of its history in this country over more than 50 years, points to an alternative explanation for the shortage of specialists. Furthermore, despite consistent assessments that training was failing to meet workforce needs from the very beginning, remarkably little has changed in the approach to OEM residency education, with one notable exception. Neither have the associated problems or the proposed solutions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Personnel Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Environmental Medicine Occupational Medicine Programs Physicians Training
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Philadelphia Region [OSHA] ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069889
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2024 Oct; 66(10):e528-e536
• Contact Point Address:
  Christopher J. Martin, 64 Medical Center Drive, Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA 26506
• Email:
  cmartin@hsc.wvu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  West Virginia University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6edf3fd7cce598e7ad2e0e9729a34c5eef67dd74e9531cbb0c6904ea6f835778fa42e0089015d532876a83b51d60b463867ec516e0ff24e8d188bcaec819ba67
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208225/cdc_208225_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 223.28 KB ]