OCCUPATIONAL-MEDICINE TRAINING-PROGRAM SURVEYS

Although the quantity of occupational Medicine (OM) residents in train ing programs has risen in the past 15 years, there remains a significa nt shortage of OM physicians in the United States. A survey of OM resi dency program directors and residents and fellows (trainees) was accom plished to answer questions relevant to recruiting and supplying OM tr ained physicians. Twenty-six of 29 program directors (89.7%) replied. One hundred forty-three of 174 (82.2%) trainees responded. Fifty perce nt of responding program directors were satisfied with the current qua ntity of program applicants. Medical students were provided a median o f 3 hours (range, 0 to 20 hours; mean, 5.35 hours) of formal OM teachi ng by the responding programs. Almost half of trainees, 68 (48.6%), di d not receive formal OM instruction in medical school. An average of 5 .4 +/- 13.3 hours of OM was taught to OM trainees in medical school Di sproportionate numbers of trainees were taught OM as fourth-year medic al students and in other residencies. Reasons for pursuing OM training were diverse and often related to postgraduate clinical experience wi th OM. Only a total of 84 primary care residents (0.32%) rotate throug h the OM residency programs in an average year. We conclude that an in sufficient quantity of qualified applicants, combined with limited exp osure to OM in medical schools and low levels of contact with resident s in primary care programs, will continue to hinder efforts to reduce the shortage of OM residents and physicians. Further training specific ally targeting the fourth year of medical school and the primary care residencies may have the most impact on recruitment.