Training Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Residents at the Uniformed Services University

Abstract

Objective: To develop an actionable plan to sustain and improve the quality of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Residency Program. Methods: Program metrics were collected and analyzed to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). Results: Program strengths are stable funding, full-time faculty and large class size. Weaknesses are limited toxicology curriculum, and the lack of complex clinical cases. Opportunities include establishing an OEM referral clinic, collaborating with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) toxicology programs, aligning OEM research priorities in DoD, and including DoD Civilian physicians in OEM residency training. Threats are Military Health System reorganization, budget, and personnel cuts. Conclusions: The USU OEM Residency is strong but must be flexible to adjust to personnel, fiscal, and organizational changes. Aggregating the SWOT analyses for all the OEM residency programs may help identify strategies to sustain OEM training in the United States.

Developing the Ready Military Medical Force: military-specific training in Graduate Medical Education

“… 27 Gaydos et al describe how the original Army OEM residency that existed from 1960 to 1996 was designed to meet the military-specific needs of the Army which included occupational health for the soldier, military unique exposures, support for the military industrial base, and environmental medicine in support of military installations and deployed forces. 28 29 …”

“…In contrast to the constraints in programs with limited training time and numerous civilian requirements, RAM, OEM and preventative medicine residencies were historically designed to support the military mission, and had training that could be flexed to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces and was integrated throughout the duration of the residency. [28][29][30] Surgical specialties in contrast, which had a limited representation in the literature, had shorter skills-based courses to augment and prepare residents for operational requirements, without advocating for additional operational training. 25 32 33 Given the limited training time, Navy surgery has developed a textbook that encompasses their MUC given the time constraints inherent in training general surgeons, although there is no standardized implementation.…”

The Future of Military Occupational and Environmental Medicine in the Department of Defense

“…This paper expands on our prior review and analysis of the practice of military OEM and the National Capital Consortium-Uniformed Services University OEM Residency Program's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). 6 In that paper, we recognized the need for a more complete analysis of the external influences on military OEM practice. Others have reviewed changes in the practice of civilian OEM in the United States.…”