WOEMA Position Paper and Call-to-Action: California Needs More Physicians Specializing in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM).

Abstract

This paper describes the critical shortage of physicians trained in occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) in California, analyzes the adverse impacts of that shortage, and proposes a specific target for increasing OEM residency slots. Literature review. The US ratio of OEM physicians to workers is 2 per 100,000 workers, compared with a ratio of 4 to 40 per 100,000 workers in most industrialized nations. California's shortage OEM physicians costs the state's employers over $1 billion annually in needless workers' compensation losses and other health impacts. Graduating 40 additional OEM residents in the state annually would cost an extra $27 to 32 million per year. The return-on-investment from increasing the number of OEM residencies and residency slots in California would be substantial, approaching at least 10-to-1, benefitting the state's workers and employers, and its environmental quality.