Occupational and Environmental Medicine: Public Health and Medicine in the Workplace

Occupational medicine is unique in medicine because it focuses on the interface of the workplace and health. Occupational medicine physicians combine individual patient care with prevention and a population-based health approach and may be engaged in all aspects of workers’ health and the workplace. They may spend more time addressing issues in healthy workers, workers’ groups, employers, or companies because only 45% of their time is used to address injured or ill patient issues.1 Important occupational health issues that need to be addressed worldwide include working conditions; the built environment; and chemical, biological, physical, and psychosocial hazards.2 Today, the specialty encompasses workers’ wellness, disease prevention, and environmental issues in addition to occupational injury and illness care.