Preventive Medicine Physician |
Career OverviewA preventive medicine physician has several career responsibilities that all focus on changing the environment or behavior of the patient or possible patient to prevent the individual or community from health issues or concerns. This may include contagious or infectious diseases or chronic or short-term health conditions that occur that could be prevented with some basic environmental management skills.
The preventive medicine physician works like a public health physician and includes clinical as well as educational components in his or her practice. The preventive medicine physician must be able to look at the complete environment as well as the individuals within the community to work at making the area a safer place for all people with regards to exposures to potential dangerous or disabling contaminants or factors.
The preventive medicine physician usually works in private practice, for a government agency, or with a community based hospital or healthcare facility. The preventive medicine physician may work both in the clinical setting as well as in the community. Often preventive medicine physicians work at health fairs or community activities to make community members aware of preventative steps that they can take to make themselves healthier or decrease their exposure to certain environmental factors.
A preventive medicine physician must be willing to work some non-standard hours as well as travel to different locations throughout the community as required. He or she should be comfortable with public speaking and be prepared to work interactively with other community agencies to share information and make long and short term plans to address community health issues.
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Career RequirementsA preventive medicine physician requires a M.D or Doctor of Medicine degree from an accredited university. The M.D program consists of four years of undergraduate studies and 4 years of medical school. A preventive medicine physician is then required to complete an additional 3 years of residency which includes one year of clinical experience, one year of academic specialization, and one year of an internship or practicum.
There are several colleges and schools of medicine that offer the preventive medicine physician program. Further information can be found at the American College or Preventative Medicine website www.acpm.org.
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Job OutlookAccording to the United States Department of Labor the demand for physicians will increase at an above average rate at least until the year 2014. The greatest demand for physicians will be in smaller centers and more rural areas where there are more private practice physicians.
These smaller community based settings are ideal locations for preventive medicine physicians to work in the community and establish effective prevention and elimination of problematic conditions.
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Career TrackPreventive medicine physicians have options to work in both government and private sector industries as physicians, managers and directors of health units or medical departments. International agencies often seek qualified preventive medicine physicians to work in developing companies or to provide additional support in crisis situations.
These jobs can lead to management opportunities within these agencies for those preventive medicine physicians that may be interested in travel. They may also choose to become consultants to large companies or agencies that focus on employee and community health.
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CompensationAs with most doctors’ salaries a preventive medicine physician can anticipate earning between $135,000 and $175,000 depending on their years of experience, type of employment and location of practice.
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