Dl. Holness et al., CHARACTERISTICS OF OCCUPATIONAL-MEDICINE PRACTITIONERS AND PRACTICE IN CANADA, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 39(9), 1997, pp. 895-900
To obtain baseline information with respect to occupational medicine p
ractice in Canada, a questionnaire survey of members of the Occupation
al and Environmental Medical Association of Canada was carried out by
mail in 1993. One hundred eighty-six responses were received (56% of t
he membership). The average age of the respondents was 49.5, 12% were
female, and 55% worked full-time in occupational medicine, Practice ty
pes included corporate settings (58%), clinics (23%), government agenc
ies (14%), worker compensation boards (7%) and academic settings (5%).
Sixty percent had some formal training in occupational medicine, and
46% had occupational medicine certification by either the Royal Colleg
e of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Canadian Board of Occupati
onal Medicine, or the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Younger p
hysicians were more likely to be female and have gone directly into oc
cupational medicine. Women were more likely to be working full-time in
occupational medicine but worked fewer hours per week. Those physicia
ns with specialty qualifications were older and more likely to be work
ing full-time in occupational medicine and be active in professional a
ctivities. The Association intends to continue surveying its members o
n a triennial basis, identifying trends in the practice profiles and c
ontinuing education needs.