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Abstract: Occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) is an ACGME-accredited preventive medicine specialty focused on work as a social determinant of health and population health. OEM providers recognize and mitigate workplace and environmental hazards, treat resultant injuries and illnesses, and promote the health, wellness and resiliency of workers and communities. Multidisciplinary residency training in clinical medicine, epidemiology, public and population health, toxicology, exposure and risk assessment, and emergency preparedness equips them with the skill set needed for leadership roles in diverse settings. These include clinical practice, academia, corporate settings, and governmental agencies. Despite robust job opportunities, a shortage of formally trained OEM physicians remains and is expected to worsen given a declining number of training programs. We examine root causes of the system-level issues impacting the supply of OEM physicians and potential solutions., Competing Interests: ACOEM requires all substantive contributors to its documents to disclose any potential competing interests, which are carefully considered. ACOEM emphasizes that the judgmentsexpressed herein represent the best available evidence at the time of publication and shall be considered the position of ACOEM and not the individual opinions of contributing authors.The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Competency is defined as possession of sufficient physical, intellectual, and behavioral qualifications to perform a task or serve in a role which adequately accomplishes a desired outcome. Recognizing the need for defining competencies essential to occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) physicians, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine developed its first set of OEM Competencies in 1998. Later updated in 2008, and again in 2014, the increasing globalization and modernization of the workplace, along with published research on OEM practice, required an update to ensure OEM physicians stay current with the field and practice of OEM. Delineation of core competencies for the profession provides employers, government agencies, health care organizations, and other health practitioners a solid context of the role and expertise of OEM physicians., Competing Interests: The author declares no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Objective: To determine prevalence and key drivers of burnout in Occupational and Environmental Medicine physicians in the United States., Methods: A nationwide survey of Occupational Medicine physicians was conducted using the Qualtrics® platform. Burnout, measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory®, Social Support, and Job Satisfaction were assessed., Results: The response rate was 46%, the overall burnout prevalence 38%, and most respondents were men (69%). The mean age and mean years in practice were 56 years and 20 years respectively. Physicians working in government/military (48%) and private medical center group settings (46%) were significantly more likely to report burnout, with consultants (15%) reporting the lowest rate., Conclusions: Although the overall burnout prevalence is lower in Occupational Medicine physicians compared with most specialties, the rate varies significantly by practice setting (15% to 48%) affirming the impact of organizational factors.

The article presents the Occupational Physicians Scholarship Fund (OPSF) as a private support for postgraduate physician training entering the field of occupational and environmental medicine (OEM). The fund is responding to the shortage of physicians in OEM that specialize in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illnesses and injuries associated in the workplace and the environment. The success of the fund was measured based on the number of scholars who become diplomates of the American Board of Preventive Medicine, certified in Occupational Medicine (ABPM/OM), scholar performance on the ABPM/OM-certifying examination, retention of scholars and their membership in American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

A report on a series of six Forum Articles from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) Task Force on Climate Change which discusses the impact of climate change on the workplace and workers' health.