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.
Also known as: Aerospace Medicine Physician, Environmental Health Physician, Occupational Health Physician (OHP), Occupational Medicine Officer, Occupational Medicine Physician, Occupational Physician, Physician, Preventive Medicine Officer, ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (About average)
What You'd Do
- Teach or train medical staff regarding preventive medicine issues.
- Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.
- Prepare preventive health reports, including problem descriptions, analyses, alternative solutions, and recommendations.
- Supervise or coordinate the work of physicians, nurses, statisticians, or other professional staff members.
- Deliver presentations to lay or professional audiences.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed risk reduction measures or other interventions.
- Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries.
- Design or use surveillance tools, such as screening, lab reports, and vital records, to identify health risks.
- 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.
- Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases.
- Develop or implement interventions to address behavioral causes of diseases.
- Direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine.
- Design, implement, or evaluate health service delivery systems to improve the health of targeted populations.
- Coordinate or integrate the resources of health care institutions, social service agencies, public safety workers, or other organizations to improve community health.
- 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.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.