Occupational and environmental medicine is a specialty pathway undertaken through the Royal Australian College of Physicians (RACP). The role involves advising people on how various aspects of their jobs can affect their health and providing advice aimed at avoiding negative health impacts that may otherwise hamper an individual’s ability to work safely and productively.
As an occupational physician, you will require an understanding of the unique characteristics of different businesses or organisations that might impact worker health, and to provide practical solutions and policies tailored to unique workplace settings.
Occupational and environmental medicine is a non-hospital based career with varying work such as consultancy, working for occupational medicine companies, working in the industrial sector, working with Workcover or insurance companies, expert witness work or medico-legal work.
Aspects of the job may include:
It’s 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. There is no blood, no smells or body fluids, and it allows you to deal with the best parts of all the disciplines in medicine, with something new and different every single day.
Occupational physicians also deal with other areas that are less commonly known, such as health surveillance, outbreaks – COVID-19 is a very good example of this. People that deal with opening and closing businesses - how do you manage this considering the current COVID situation we’re dealing with? Outbreaks in workplaces and making sure this remains contained.
There’s a vast array of different services that occupational physicians provide, so the world is really your oyster!
Occupational and environmental medicine is a career that involves:
Training to become an occupational and environmental physician is facilitated through the Royal Australian College of Physicians (RACP). Training occurs in accredited training positions, and more information can be found here.
It is recommended you reach PGY4 or PGY5 before applying for the training program so you have time to get a good breadth and understanding of what could walk through your door as an occupational physician - it can vary immensely, and you need to be comfortable handling this. Your previous experience should include different surgical and medical specialties.
As there are no intern or resident rotations in occupational and environmental health, to get exposure you can make yourself known to the occupational physician in the hospital where you’re currently working. You can also approach occupational physicians in private practices for work experience, or get a role as an unaccredited registrar in a private practice to gather experience. Alternatively, contact the faculty – there’s a director of training in every state and they’ll be more than happy to help you.
Occupational and environmental medicine training takes place privately because there are very few places in the public system. It’s four years of training, split up into three stages.
Stage A is approximately 12 to 18 months in length, culminating in an exam similar to the Basic Physicians Part 1 exam.
Stage B, the secondary entry point if you have a fellowship from the College of General Practitioners, lasts from 18 months to two years. This is where you will develop your skills and understanding of occupational and environmental medicine, including completion of a Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (this can be done through several universities, including Curtin University and Monash University). This stage also culminates in exams, both written and clinical.
Stage C is about honing your skills as a consultant, working on your medical legal writing, general assessments, working with clients in terms of their sites and hazards and risks and working with clients’ workers.
