Preventive Medicine Physicians

Also called: Aerospace Medicine Physician, Environmental Health Physician, Occupational Health Physician, Occupational Medicine Officer, Occupational Medicine Physician

Varies

estimated salary

Preventive medicine physicians apply knowledge of general preventive medicine and public health issues to promote health care to groups or individuals, and aid in the prevention or reduction of risk of disease, injury, disability, or death. May practice population-based medicine or diagnose and treat patients in the context of clinical health promotion and disease prevention.

 

 

  • Direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine.
  • Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries.
  • Direct public health education programs dealing with topics such as preventable diseases, injuries, nutrition, food service sanitation, water supply safety, sewage and waste disposal, insect control, and immunizations.
  • Supervise or coordinate the work of physicians, nurses, statisticians, or other professional staff members.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed risk reduction measures or other interventions.
  • Deliver presentations to lay or professional audiences.
  • Design, implement, or evaluate health service delivery systems to improve the health of targeted populations.
  • Provide information about potential health hazards and possible interventions to the media, the public, other health care professionals, or local, state, and federal health authorities.
  • Design or use surveillance tools, such as screening, lab reports, and vital records, to identify health risks.
  • Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases.
  • Develop or implement interventions to address behavioral causes of diseases.
  • Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.
  • Teach or train medical staff regarding preventive medicine issues.
  • Coordinate or integrate the resources of health care institutions, social service agencies, public safety workers, or other organizations to improve community health.
  • Prepare preventive health reports, including problem descriptions, analyses, alternative solutions, and recommendations.
Work Context
  • Telephone — 100% responded "Every day".
  • Electronic Mail — 97% responded "Every day".
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 86% responded "Every day".
  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 83% responded "Every day".
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 72% responded "A lot of freedom".
  • Structured versus Unstructured Work — 58% responded "A lot of freedom".
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 58% responded "Extremely important".
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Work Activities
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Train medical providers.
  • Gather medical information from patient histories.
  • Record patient medical histories.
  • Present medical research reports.
  • Supervise patient care personnel.
  • Communicate health and wellness information to the public.
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Knowledge

Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
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Skills

Reading Comprehension
  • Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Critical Thinking
  • Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Active Listening
  • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Active Learning
  • Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
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Abilities

Oral Expression
  • The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Inductive Reasoning
  • The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Oral Comprehension
  • The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity
  • The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Object or component oriented development software
  • R Hot Technology
Analytical or scientific software
  • SAS Hot Technology
  • The MathWorks MATLAB Hot Technology
  • STATISTICA
  • SAS JMP
  • StataCorp Stata
  • Tidepool Scientific Software ToxCalc
  • Statistical Solutions BMDP
  • Biostatistical software
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info
  • Epidemiological software
  • Insightful S-PLUS
  • Medical surveillance software
  • NCSS
  • NCSS Power Analysis and Sample Size PASS
  • NetEpi
  • OpenEpi
  • Wolfram Research Mathematica
Word processing software
  • Microsoft Word Hot Technology
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